Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
by HGP
Summary: Summer at the Dursley's ends sooner than Harry ever expected, but not without a battle, one which could mean the beginning of the end for the magical world. Will Harry discover the power he needs to defeat Voldemort? And what of the other powers he discovers?
1. The First Move

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Harry Potter as much as I wish I did. Please don't sue. You'll get about $20 for your trouble!

* * *

The ride back to Privet Drive was the least pleasant in Harry's memory. "What were you thinking boy having those . . . those FREAKS accost us at the train station? Don't expect to be let out of your room at all this summer threat or not. They can't scare Vernon Dursley," Harry's uncle had shouted the moment they reached the brand-new SUV that Vernon had purchased with the money from his last big deal. "And that ruddy owl of yours will be under lock and key as well," Vernon added.

"If I don't send a letter to those people every few days they'll come over for themselves to see what you've done to me," Harry answered back bitterly. His heart ached for Sirius and now he had to put up with these muggles for the next four weeks. It was going to be a long summer in Harry's opinion.

"We'll see about that boy. Now don't talk back," Vernon said. He raised his beefy hand and struck Harry across the face hard enough to knock him unconscious before they had even left the parking lot of King's Cross. Hours later Harry was roused from this beating by another even stronger punch directed at his ribs. "Get inside now before someone sees you," Vernon bellowed, his face a deep magenta color that nearly matched Voldemort's eyes.

* * *

Harry dragged his trunk and Hedwig's cage up the stairs to his closet of a room. Once he was inside, he heard the familiar click of the key in the lock. He quickly grabbed a scrap of parchment and scrawled a note to the Order that he wouldn't be able to write anymore for the summer as his owl was locked up and whatever they did to NOT come to Privet Drive no matter what and sent Hedwig off before the window could be barred or her cage locked as Harry was sure Vernon would do.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO WRITE TO THOSE PEOPLE," Vernon screamed unlocking Harry's door and throwing it open with a bang that should have woken all of Privet Drive and most of Magnolia Crescent. "That's it you're going to pay for all the freakish things you've brought to this house boy," Vernon said. Harry screamed only once as Vernon pummeled him repeatedly and then threw him across the room to land with a thud against the chest of drawers.

The silence was deafening. Harry could barely breathe but willed himself to stay conscious and quiet through whatever came next. Never give him the satisfaction of hearing me cry, Harry thought. A few moments passed as blood trickled from a rather large gash on Harry's head made by the corner of a drawer. Only when it began to pool under his head did Harry start to get nervous. Vernon thundered out of the room closing and locking the door behind him and Harry let out a nearly inaudible whimper, clutching his head in his hands. As he did so white light with a touch of gold surrounded his fingertips and the pain ebbed away along with the flowing blood. All Harry could do was stare at his hands wondering if he would get an owl from the Ministry for somehow using magic. He didn't know what he was more worried about, the inevitable hearing for underage magic or the beating he would receive for getting the Ministry owl in the first place. Thankfully, as Harry crawled painfully into bed several hours later neither had happened.

* * *

Two weeks of constant beatings followed and Harry was almost ready to risk sending Hedwig out again to send word to the order. He wasn't sure he'd be alive in another two weeks when he was to take the Knight Bus to Grimmauld Place. Harry hadn't eaten in four days and his supply of water was nearly gone. He had to use a bucket in the corner for his personal needs and he couldn't sleep without constant nightmares of Sirius falling through the veil. On the final night of the second week of hell Harry fell into a troubled sleep, more from sheer exhaustion than Harry wanting to sleep. He was surprised when he drifted to sleep without any dreams, at first anyway.

* * *

At Grimmauld Place the members of the order were ready to go get Harry despite what Dumbledore told them. They hadn't heard from Harry since the day he had returned to the Dursleys house and everyone was worried, especially Remus. "He should have written by now. I thought we showed his uncle how serious we were that we needed to hear that Harry was okay," Remus said to Moody. Two weeks passed without a word, except for the scrap of parchment they had received the first day. Remus had tried writing to Harry but somehow the owl hadn't been able to make the delivery which worried the aged man even more. Owls simply did not fail in delivering their messages.

"He did say he couldn't write again Remus. Oh I hope those muggles haven't done something stupid like hurt him," Tonks said, changing her hair absent-mindedly from bright bubblegum pink to an angry fire-red color and then to sickly puce. "They always threaten him. If only they knew how important Harry was to both our world and their own pathetic lives they would treat him the way he deserves to be treated. Did Dumbledore ever tell either of you why Harry is stuck with those muggles for a month every year?" Tonks asked curiously. Her hair flipped through several colors and styles as did her eyes before she settled on short baby blue hair and matching eyes.

"It's for his protection. After the threat we gave them at the station they wouldn't dare hurt him," Moody said, jumping into the conversation as his magic eye spun wildly. Little did they know what was about to happen to Harry that very night and how it would change everything.

* * *

Harry woke with a start a few hours later. He was trembling and his heart was racing, but to his relief his scar wasn't burning as was usually the case during his dreams. He closed his eyes to picture the details of this latest dream and smiled. It was about his father and Sirius when they were still students at Hogwarts, in fact they looked to be about the same age as Harry was now. Remus was also there, looking pale. A full moon must be coming up, Harry thought. He pieced together fragments of the conversation that the three were having under the seemingly peaceful whomping willow. Harry wasn't fooled, he knew that one of them had given the knothole a good prod, or they had finally come up with a freezing spell that worked on the branched menace.

Harry forced his mind to focus on what he had heard. Lupin was silent, but Sirius and James were speaking in animated tones. "Only two more potions and an incantation and we'll have finally done it," James said, holding out an old cracked black leather book that Harry knew must have come from the restricted section.

"Put that down James, unless you want to be found out before you can finish the animagus process tonight," Remus said, his voice tired, sounding a little like a growl. Tonight must be the full moon Harry thought. He glanced at the book memorizing the title as a deep ache filled his heart. His deepest wish was to become an animagi like his father, since he was so much like him in other ways.

* * *

Harry jerked again as a much darker vision entered his mind. He heard the all too familiar hissing voice and his scar seared with pain and an intense burning he had never felt before even though the rest of his body was quite cold, like ice.

"We are almost there Wormtail, I can feel the weak Confundus curse and Fidelis charm cast to conceal him. We can now counter them thanks to the boy's inability to clear his mind," Voldemort's voice hissed. The pain in Harry's scar increased tenfold, leaving his body shaking as if he were under the effect of Crucio. Harry jumped out of bed with all the strength he had and before he quite knew what he was doing Harry had grabbed his glasses and his wand and had nearly thrown himself out of the second floor window. He performed magic accidently as he levitated himself the remaining 3 feet to the ground. The stars, Harry noticed, were no longer visible. "Dementors," Harry said. Then he noticed a figure in the shadows and recognized Mrs. Figg, his secret-keeper and watcher while he was stuck with the Dursleys. He knew that since he had seen her that Voldemort would know she was here as well.

At that moment an eerie green light flashed and Harry faintly heard Mrs. Figg mutter an incantation before screaming and falling to the ground. She was dead before the sound of her scream had faded only to be replaced by Voldemort's thin cruel laugh. "Foolish squib! No matter she cannot have done anything in that pitiful useless spell of hers," he roared. His snake-like eyes searched the dark for his prey and Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid a confrontation. Harry stepped out of the shadows. "So we meet again Harry Potter. CRUCIO," Voldemort screamed.

From somewhere deep inside Harry a bolt of golden light stirred and then surged and just as the curse was hitting him Harry was surrounded by a warm golden light. Voldemort was livid as evidenced by the unholy pain Harry was now feeling in his scar which nearly destroyed the shield. It held, luckily, as Voldemort's next spell would have meant instant death. "AVADA KEDAVRA," Voldemort screamed. Harry screamed as well and then mercifully all went dark and silent plunging Harry into an unnatural sleep from which he would not easily be awoken.

* * *

The dozing portraits in Dumbledore's office all stirred to life at the same moment. It was hardly necessary. The silver-white head of Albus Dumbledore appeared followed a moment later by the rest of his old yet still agile body. "Something's happened, and it must be important to wake you out of your endless slumber," he said. Dumbledore sprang to life, ordering various past headmasters into their other portraits.

The final order was given to one particularly frail looking wizard who disappeared with a half-sleepy grunt. Seconds later he came rushing back. "She's sent the sign. Don't know how she did it being a squib and all, but she sent it," reported Emeraldus Dumple in a state of shock.

"How is she?" Dumbledore asked, knowing the answer somehow before he spoke.

"She is dead sir. The other portraits say that Voldemort used the killing curse on her and then continued his attack on the boy," Emeraldus replied.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked in shock and grief.

"He is laying in the road sir, the Dark Mark on the door of the muggle house that kept him safe. The other pictures report he blocked the killing curse with a golden shield unlike that which they had ever seen," Emeraldus replied gravely.

"So it has begun this soon. I'll summon the order. Someone needs to go see what has become of the treasure we all risk our lives to protect. Nobody will give up because they won't be able to believe he's gone from us so soon," Dumbledore said, rare emotion in his all-seeing eyes. "So Harry your transmutation has begun. Much like everything in your life it is remarkably early and brings on great perils," Dumbledore said. He pulled out a sack of purple powder which he threw in the fireplace, clearly saying the names of those who needed to know about Harry. Finally he added two young names, hoping they could bring Harry back from the point of death, "Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger," whispered Dumbledore sadly. His was the daunting task of telling them Harry may not survive. At that moment all he could do was wait, and hope that withholding the final pieces of Harry's destiny would not mean an end to all the work of so many who had made sure that he was 'The boy who lived.'


	2. The Power He Knows Not?

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Harry Potter as much as I wish I did. Please don't sue. You'll get about $20 for your trouble!

* * *

Severus Snape woke to the sound of a purple rush of fire and the solemn tone of Dumbledore's voice. "Severus your presence is required immediately in my office. What we feared has happened. Bring any potions that may be necessary," Dumbledore said.

Snape grabbed a selection of potions, at least one of each vial he had in his private storeroom. A few moments later he took a handful of Floo Powder and threw it into the flames. "The Headmaster's office," he said curtly, as he whirled through the green flames and emerged next to Fawkes's perch. He saw that Professor McGonagall, Tonks, and Mad-Eye Moody were already seated in Dumbledore's office. Remus Lupin on the other hand was pacing the floor, his downcast eyes blurring with unshed tears. Snape could see this and feel the desperation that Lupin was feeling, but noticed that he was trying to hide his emotion as he continued to be drawn into his memories. Snape turned off his Leglimancy powers and strengthened his own mental defenses as he did when he faced Voldemort.

Lupin was struck by the force of his memories and how he felt that he had now let James, Lily, and Sirius down for not keeping Harry safe. He refused to be seated to listen to Dumbledore tell them that Harry too was gone. Instead he focused on how it felt to teach Harry to conjure his Patronus and how pleased he was that it was a stag. Through Harry it was if Remus had gotten a long-lost glimpse of old Prongs.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, interrupting Lupin's thoughts. "We cannot wait for the last arrivals. I will stay to inform them. Minerva, Severus, you need to go rescue Harry. It is imperative to remove his shield. It may have saved his life but if it remains it will kill him," Dumbledore said.

Snape and McGonagall didn't hesitate. They grabbed a hold of a golden ring turned portkey and vanished. Just after they did Remus turned to Dumbledore. "What do you mean it will kill him?" Lupin asked.

"Please, the fewer times I explain the easier this will be. For all of us. It will be painful enough to hear," Dumbledore said. The twinkle in his eyes had long since vanished leaving them looking like two dull sapphires when they normally looked like twin jars of bluebell flames.

* * *

Outside on Privet Drive Harry lay motionless under the large golden shield. As time passed the shield started to grow, taking the energy from Harry's weakened form. "We're only just in time Severus," Minerva McGonagall said, approaching the spot where Harry lay with her wand out.

* * *

Ron laid in his narrow bed in The Burrow thinking about the events so far this summer. He hoped that Harry would be happy that he and Hermione were seeing each other, but he wasn't sure how his best mate would react. They were planning to go "rescue" Harry from the Dursleys the next day. Just as Ron was drifting to sleep, he heard Hermione scream from the room that had belonged to Fred and George which was next door. Ron grabbed his robe and his wand, then ran to her room. "What happened? I think Harry even heard you scream and he's all the way in Surrey," Ron said.

Hermione was sitting up in bed clutching her wand tightly. Her face had gone white and she was shaking. "Ron, the fire's gone purple and I heard Dumbledore's voice summoning us to Hogwarts, to his office. He said something has happened to Harry," Hermione said.

"What are we waiting for? There's Floo Powder in that box," Ron said, his heart sinking. Was Harry okay? Ron thought.

"Where are you two going at this hour of the morning, and in your nightclothes?" Mrs. Weasley asked, having apparated into the room.

"Mum something's wrong with Harry. Dumbledore summoned us to his office. We have to hurry," Ron said, pleading with his mother to understand.

"I'm coming with you," Mrs. Weasley answered, grabbing the Floo Powder and throwing it into the flames.

"Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," the three said together.

* * *

They spun through the fire and landed with a shaky thud. Hermione brushed her hair out of her face with a badly shaking hand and unconsciously grabbed Ron's hand tightly. "Tell us please Professor Dumbledore. Harry's not . . . tell me he's not dead," she said, as the tears gathered in her cinnamon eyes quickly began to flow down her cheeks.

"Of course, it is time to let you all know what happened. Please sit," Dumbledore said quietly, managing to conjure two tattered blue armchairs for the young people and a brown divan for Mrs Weasley, whom he wasn't surprised to see. "Harry is in grave danger. I have sent Minerva and Severus to bring him back here where we can help him," Dumbledore said.

"Snape!" Hermione and Ron exclaimed. None of the adults in the room gave their usual reminder to the teens to call him Professor Snape.

"Did 'You Know Who' attack him? How did he find Harry at the muggle house? Ron asked, pale and feeling sick to his stomach.

Hermione was quiet. She didn't even scold Ron for not being able to say Voldemort's name. Instead she focused her tear-filled eyes on Professor Dumbledore. "Please say he'll be okay," Hermione said quietly.

"The Dursley's house is no longer safe for Harry," Professor Dumbledore said, standing up and pacing before the fire. "I should have know that would be the case since Voldemort has had Harry's blood in him ever since he got his body back. The ancient protection of his mother's love is not enough now. He must master a final legacy his father left him. It started tonight, much too soon I'm afraid," Dumbledore said.

"What started?" Hermione asked.

"Harry performed wandless magic tonight. Only 4 wizards were able to perform that feat, along with their heirs. You two know their names. Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Godric Gryffindor," Dumbledore said.

"Wait a minute, so all that talk about Harry being the heir in second year wasn't far off?" Ron asked.

"He's terribly important, isn't he?" Hermione asked, starting to put the pieces together.

"I see why you three are such close friends," Dumbledore said, a faint smile appearing on his weathered face for the briefest of moments. "Harry must not be told the full story until he is able to make progress with his parent's final gifts. He will study Occlumency with me this time, as I fear Voldemort may try to force Professor Snape to try something against Harry during the lessons as he did last year," Dumbledore said, his smile having faded.

"You said gifts, what is the other thing Harry needs to control?" Hermione asked, already planning the best way to aid in Harry's study.

"I have no doubt the two of you will be able to help him fine tune his natural tendency toward Leglimancy. That gift seems to have presented itself far earlier than I ever suspected. Much as Harry's other talents are now doing," Dumbledore replied.

"Wait Harry is an Occlumens and a Leglimans, naturally I mean? Isn't that extremely rare?" Ron asked.

"Only one wizard was born with both talents. Godric Gryffindor," Dumbledore answered, knowing Hermione had just figured out the answer.

"That would make Harry the heir of Gryffindor, but Professor Dumbledore, wouldn't that also mean that Harry is the only one who can defeat Voldemort?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly why Harry is no longer safe anywhere but Hogwarts," Dumbledore answered.

The adults in the room simply stared as the two young people sorted out the mystery.

* * *

"Severus what is it?" Minerva asked.

"I believe I know what the problem is," Severus said, touching his wand to the shimmering shield. He was surprised at Harry's condition. The boy was painfully thin and had dark uneven bruises across all the skin Severus could see exposed. "We may have to talk to Albus about how the boy was treated this summer. It looks like he was used for a punching bag," Snape said, his mental image of perfect golden boy Potter evaporating as he pieced together images he had seen of the boy in their Occlumency lessons and what he saw now into a picture very similar to the one that he himself had lived.

"We need to move quickly, there are still Dementors lurking," Minerva said, gasping at Harry's battered body. "Dear lord I told Albus not to leave him with those muggles," she said.

"I need to counter this back at Hogwarts, I only hope that he is okay when I retract the shield, with what has formed inside," Snape said.

McGonagall looked at the swirling substance and gasped. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked, turning visibly pale.

"Essence of the Draught of the Living Death," Snape said quietly. He muttered an incantation and released the shield.

"He's barely breathing," she said.

"Let's get him back to Dumbledore's office," Snape said, grasping the portkey while clutching Harry's arm. On the other side of the ring Minerva was doing the same thing. They landed in Dumbledore's office with a thud.

* * *

"HARRY! Please let us near him," Hermione pleaded.

"In a moment Miss Granger, Harry needs the counter potion administered immediately," Professor McGonagall said gently.

"Counter potion to what?" Ron asked, eyeing Snape warily.

"The Draught of the Living Death," Snape said, finding among his potions a deep green vial that Hermione remembered making at the end of last year.

"I thought Voldemort used the Avada curse?" Ron asked.

"He did along with Crucio. The shield Potter produced tonight was weak, barely able to save him," Snape said, without his usual haughty expression.

"It was remarkable for a first attempt," Dumbledore interrupted. He waved his hands a moment later for Professor Snape to continue.

"The shield was imperfect, not blocking the curses but draining their essence. Crucio emits essence of wormwood, while the Avada is almost pure asphodel. Inside the barrier that kept him alive Potter was trapped, unable to retract the shield. The potion overtook him quickly and it will be some time before we can discover its full potency," Snape said, chanting the spell over the counter-potion to make it active.

"I can't believe it, The Draught of the Living Death. Oh Harry," Hermione said, her voice wavering. She wanted nothing more than to go over to Harry who was lying there pasty white, his chest barely moving and his lips turning blue.

Snape opened the green vial carefully and opened Harry's mouth. His hand slightly shaking, he poured the contents of the potion into Harry's throat and touched the boy's neck gently to force him to swallow. Everyone held their breath, waiting for some sort of reaction. Ron and Hermione edged closer to their friend and this time no one held them back.

* * *

"What are all these bruises from?" Ron asked, looking at Harry.

Hermione's hand reached out and brushed Harry's hair from his forehead, her finger lightly touching his scar hoping against hope that it might bring him around. "They're from his relatives aren't they? I was afraid of this when he didn't write to anyone except for that one letter the day we left school. They took their anger out on Harry," Hermione said her tears turning into heart-wrenching sobs.

Ron grimaced at the sight of Harry's injuries. He also noticed Harry's hand was nearly purple from clutching his wand and reached out to take it out of his fist. "Hermione help me, I have a feeling that we need to get his hand open. I don't really want to disarm him but.." Ron said.

"We need to, he's clutching so tightly that the last of the potion is probably trapped in his hand," Hermione said.

"Wise beyond their years," Dumbledore said, nodding as he knew Miss Granger was right.

"Can we use magic on him to release his wand or will that bring up his shield? We can't get his wand free," Hermione said, nearly in tears as she continued to gently pry Harry's hand loose, her other hand still stroking the hair back from his forehead.

"He shouldn't be able to produce the shield for some time again. It forms partially from Harry's strength and he has none to give. Try a gentle spell, it should work," Dumbledore answered.

Hermione tried to speak, to use the counter-curse to the Petrificus Totalus spell but she couldn't form the words around the lump of tears in her throat. She turned and looked at Ron. He took a deep breath, pointed his wand at Harry's arm and quietly said "Mortis Relaxo."

Hermione looked over at Professor Snape, "Is there more counter-potion, in case there was a fair amount of the Draught left in his hand?" she asked.

"Yes Miss Granger," Snape answered, not surprised she would be the first to think of that. He retrieved a second dark green vial and said the spell over it. Uncorking it he handed the vial to Hermione. "Make sure he swallows quickly or he'll choke," Snape said.

She opened Harry's mouth again as she saw Ron pick Harry's wand up from where it had finally fallen from his fist. The purple was spreading up his arm, reactivating the potion in his system. Hermione didn't hesitate to pour the liquid into Harry's mouth and then quickly and gently press his throat until she felt him swallow.

"Now all we can do is wait. I am sure you two won't leave his side. The rest of us have some business to discuss," Dumbledore said gesturing for the adults in the room to follow him to his private study. Before he left however, he conjured a bed under Harry and beds for Ron and Hermione on either side.


	3. Midnight Thoughts and the Return of a Fr...

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Harry Potter as much as I wish I did. Please don't sue. You'll get about $20 for your trouble!

* * *

Hermione was too fretful to be kept still too long. She convinced Ron to go to sleep. "I'll take the first watch Ron," she said. A few moments later Ron was softly snoring to Harry's left and Hermione sat on Harry's bed watching the moonlight illuminate his face. It was unusually pale, his dark hair falling in his eyes. She reached over and touched his cheek. His skin was cold and his face still like the moonbeams that shone on it. Hermione's eyes welled yet again with fresh tears. She didn't know where they came from as she had never cried this much when Harry had been hurt before. 'Maybe it's because you never let yourself feel this way about him before. Because his life has been so dangerous, you turned your heart,' Hermione thought. Then she gasped. Where had that come from? She had just agreed to date Ron earlier that day after he told her he loved her several times. Something nagged her mind though. 'I couldn't honestly tell him that I loved him back. I just agreed to date him because he seemed to want it so much,' she thought. 'With Harry it's so much more. I care for him, not like a brother like I care for Ron, but as something more,' her thoughts continued.

Hermione turned her attention back to Harry. Wiping the tears from her eyes she laid her hand against his cold forehead and traced his scar with her thumb. "Come on Harry James Potter, we need you now more than ever. Who's going to cause trouble in Gryffindor without the three of us now that Fred and George aren't in school? I need you," Hermione said. Then she did something that surprised her. She leaned down and quickly kissed Harry's cold lips, willing them to warm up again, as if her kiss would bring him back. Hermione focused on his face intensely after the kiss. She had felt his eyelashes move as if he were opening his eyes. "Harry?" Hermione asked, looking down to see the bottomless depths of Harry's emerald eyes.

* * *

Harry felt her jump up from the bed and watched her as much as he could without turning his head. His body didn't seem to want to move just yet and Harry wondered what Voldemort had done to him this time. He blinked a few times to get these thoughts out of his mind, replacing them instead with the thought that Hermione had been so close to him and how good it felt. 'You can't think like that. She's most likely your best mate's girlfriend by now and you know how Ron is. He was so determined to ask her out. You can't ruin that. But why oh why then had Hermione kissed me, and why do I want more?' Harry thought, his mind a jumble of feelings. He had heard her say that she needed him and then felt her warm lips press against his. A shiver ran along his body at the thought. 'I love her but I can't have her, just like everything else in my life,' Harry thought, wanting her to hurry back to his bedside so he could say something to her.

* * *

She had jumped up from the bed and ran toward the now closed door to Dumbledore's inner office. There were low anxious voices inside but Hermione didn't care what she was interrupting. Harry was awake. She flung open the door and her eyes flashed back and forth between two things. One, the image of Remus Lupin sobbing. His worn face was red from wiping the tears that still fell from his eyes. The other image was a large black dog that had been trying to hide under Dumbledore's desk which bore a striking resemblance to Sirius Black's animagi form Padfoot, or Snuffles as the trio had begun to call him.

"Well Miss Granger, what is the change in Harry's condition?" Professor Dumbledore asked gravely.

"He's opened his eyes," Hermione said, her face very white. She heard the dog bark once and start running toward the now open office door as Remus stood up almost quickly enough to knock over his chair.

"STOP!" Hermione said, grabbing the dog by the scruff of its neck. "If it goes charging out there Harry will see and think its Snuffles. Harry will think that either he is dead or Sirius has come back to him even though we've all told him that cannot happen," Hermione said.

"Miss Granger has a point Sirius," Professor Dumbledore said, waiting for him to transform.

"Si...Sirius?" Hermione said, her voice failing her and her face losing any color it had left in it. Remus grabbed her arm to keep her standing and smiled at his friend.

"Careful Padfoot. I'm sure that Harry would want us to keep this pretty thing in one piece," he said.

"Sorry Hermione. Please, how is Harry?" Sirius asked.

"He...oh Merlin...he looks awful. He's so pale and cold. It's almost like he's dead," Hermione said.

"I suppose you'll want an explanation now, that way you can help Harry deal with things later," Dumbledore said.

"How? We saw you die Sirius. Well I was unconscious but from what I've heard from Harry and Remus it was horrible. Harry had to be held back to stop him from following you behind the veil. How did you get out of there?" Hermione asked.

Sirius's eyes filled with tears. "I had to do it Hermione. I promise I'll explain every detail later when Harry is stronger. Just know that I'm free now to keep Harry safe. I can fulfill the promise I made to James and Lily," he said, grasping Remus's arm to keep from staggering in his grief.

"As soon as the Ministry finds out you're alive you'll be back in Azkaban or back in hiding only this time you'll have to go far away," Hermione said. "Harry can't even fully accept that you were gone let alone get you back now and then lose you again right away," she continued.

"The Ministry isn't a problem. We've caught Peter. The rat has been sentenced and sent to Azkaban to await the Dementor's kiss. Knowing Voldemort he won't stay there long, or the Dementors for that matter, but I've been cleared," Sirius said.

"Merlin, come on we have to tell Harry! He may be confused but it will give him a reason to keep his eyes open. Oh Merlin, his eyes were open and I just left him there all alone," Hermione said, rushing out of the room not caring if anyone was following her.

* * *

"Well that was an interesting conversation with your future goddaughter-in-law. Come now Sirius you had to have seen her love for Harry. I only hope Mr. Weasley understands. Harry needs both of his friends now if he is ever to defeat Voldemort," Dumbledore said.

"I need to see him Albus," Sirius said, following Hermione into the main part of the office. Right behind him were Remus and Professor Dumbledore. Sirius caught sight of Harry laying in bed, whiter than the sheets and he felt like his heart was breaking. He noticed that Harry's eyes were still open. "Can you hear me Harry?" Sirius asked, reaching out to hold his godson's hand.

* * *

Harry looked around at all the anxious faces around him. He took a deep breath and thought about just closing his eyes. He could feel tears forming and didn't have the strength to wipe them away. Hermione saw the strained look in Harry's eyes and the reason he wouldn't focus on anyone's face. Conjuring up a handkerchief, Hermione wiped his eyes. She briefly picked up his hand and squeezed it gently before bringing it to her lips and kissing it. "I love you Harry," she whispered.

Ron was a jumble of emotions. He had just woken up to see that Harry was awake, looking far more vulnerable than Ron had ever seen him. Then someone who looked like Sirius came into the room and started talking to Harry. And to top it off Hermione, his girlfriend, had just wiped away Harry's tears and kissed his hand. Ron's heart sank when he heard Hermione whisper to Harry. "Hermione, we need to talk," Ron said.

* * *

Hermione looked at Ron, guilt in her heart. He had seen her kiss Harry's hand and from the expression on his face had probably heard what she said to him. "Ron please, not here, let's go over there a little and let Harry and Sirius talk," Hermione said, gesturing to the other side of Dumbledore's office near his desk.

"Don't lie to me Hermione. You love him don't you? It's always been Harry, even when I told you that I loved you. Why Hermione? Why does Harry get everything?" Ron said, his voice getting louder as his anger took over.

"Everything Harry has came at a price Ron. Do you think he wouldn't rather have his parents than a vault full of gold and the fame that makes it impossible for anyone besides us to see who he really is? I can't help who I love Ron. I didn't even realize what I felt until Harry was hurt and I was afraid he would never wake up again. I agreed to go out with you because, well I'm not sure why. I knew you loved me and I didn't know how I felt for anyone," Hermione said, her eyes pleading with Ron to not hate her, or Harry.

"Don't give me that! It's always been Harry. I've seen how you two are when you think no one is looking. You always find an excuse to touch him or help him extra even when you won't help me with our homework at all," Ron said, his face slowly starting to match his hair.

"When have I not helped you with your work Ronald Bilius Weasley? My help is one of the reasons you've done as well on your OWL's as I'm sure you did. If you noticed something between Harry and I why did you insist that you loved me when you knew that I most likely didn't love you back? Is it because you wanted to get something that Harry couldn't have? If so Ron, that just shows how much of a prat you can be," Hermione said, her own anger rising.

* * *

At the same time on the other side of the room Harry and Sirius were staring at each other. Neither of them had said a word since Sirius asked if Harry could hear him. Remus and Professor Dumbledore watched them intensely. Well, Remus did while Dumbledore's attention was divided between the two conversations. A slight smile played on his lips and his eyes regained some of their sparkle as he watched Hermione confess to Ron that she loved Harry. 'Yes that will do nicely. They will find the power the dark lord knows not and use it to defeat him. Mr. Weasley will play a part as well,' Dumbledore thought.

"Sirius," Harry said slowly. "Did I die?" Harry asked.

"No more than I did Harry. I'm alive, I know how much it hurt you to see that this summer but it had to be done. We've caught Peter and I'm free," Sirius said.

"He didn't stay caught for long . . . he was with Voldemort when he attacked me . . . " Harry said. Then his eyes regained some of their brightness as he thought. "Can I finally live with you?" Harry asked, hope flooding his body. "You do know the Dursleys are dead. I have nowhere to go," he said, glimpses of his dream flashing through his mind.

Dumbledore sadly nodded. The Dursley house had been reduced to smoldering ruins. The only things saved were Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage. "I'm sorry to say you're right Harry. I wished you hadn't seen that particular moment. You will stay at Hogwarts of course and when things settle then you have your friends and now your godfather to live with," Dumbledore said.

* * *

Hermione was livid with Ron. "How dare you say that Ronald Weasley?" she screamed, interrupting the conversation that Harry was having with Sirius and Dumbledore.

"Why not Hermione? It's what you were doing wasn't it? You were stringing me along while you decided if you loved Harry or not," Ron said.

"Please don't fight over me. I'm not worth it," Harry said, the tears now flowing down his cheeks no matter what he did to try to stop them.

Hermione and Ron stopped yelling at once, both of them ashamed of arguing where Harry could overhear them. They turned and silently agreed to finish the conversation later. Hermione hoped that cooler heads would prevail. She walked over to Harry at once. "Never say that Harry. We are sorry for fighting around you. I know how it makes you feel. But we came to an understanding didn't we Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, sorry mate. We're both here for you. I know I can be a jealous prat sometimes but looking at it now I wouldn't want to go through some of the things you've had to go through," Ron said honestly. He realized that he would have to give up Hermione. It wasn't fair to her to keep her away from what her heart was saying. Also, Harry needed both of them. If ever there was a time for the Golden Trio it was now.


	4. Coming of Age

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Harry Potter as much as I wish I did. Please don't sue. You'll get about $20 for your trouble!

* * *

The two weeks until Harry's birthday passed in an odd sort of peace for the three Gryffindors. Dumbledore had informed the Grangers and the Weasleys that Hermione and Ron were needed at Hogwarts to be with Harry and both families agreed. The day after they arrived, Hermione and Ron finished their conversation and agreed to be friends. Hermione had admitted to Ron that they argued so much because they were like brother and sister. Ron was hurt by this comparison at first but realized that the only other person he fought with so much was his sister Ginny.

No one was more surprised than Harry when they were allowed to use magic all they wanted since they were technically at school. Game after game of exploding snap followed along with Ron's attempt at building a giant exploding snap card house which ended with a trip to Madame Pomfrey's where Ron was covered in her patented orange burn cream to heal his singed eyebrows and hair.

* * *

"Wake up Harry. Happy Birthday," Hermione said, leaning closer to kiss his cheek.

"Well come on then mate you have presents waiting," Ron said, distracting himself from watching Hermione kiss Harry's cheek by unwrapping a chocolate frog.

"Presents? What did some angel finish all our summer work?" Harry asked.

"If you're good I'll help you with it later," Hermione said with a smile.

"I'll get him dressed, go on Hermione or we'll never get started," Ron said, grabbing Harry's arm. When he still didn't move Ron smirked at Harry. "Do I have to call Sirius?"

"Hell no! Why so early? I'm still supposed to be resting," Harry said, imagining the scene his godfather could cause.

"Right Harry, resting . . . and I'm Snape's best potions student," Ron said laughing. He knew that Harry might actually be listening to the advice to stay in bed for once since one of his least favorite places was the hospital wing. After all, Harry is the only one to have his name on a bed in the wing right next to Madame Pomfrey's office door, Ron thought. "All the adults said you could get up, including Madame Pomfrey," Ron added.

* * *

Twenty minutes later they walked into the common room. Harry was quiet as he watched his two friends. They seemed troubled. Then it hit Harry. Hermione had been acting strangely around him, always hugging him or kissing his cheek. It made Harry's stomach flutter when he realized that he was having feelings for her. That he thought he could see Hermione as more than a friend. The only problem Harry realized with a sudden jolt was that Ron was also in love with her and Ron had already made his move during the first part of the summer. After all, Harry and Ron had talked about Hermione before school had ended and Ron said that he was going to ask Hermione out when she got to The Burrow. Harry, of course, had congratulated his best friend. Now however, Harry realized that he didn't want to give up Hermione that easily, even though loving her would be dangerous. 'Damn Voldemort always in the way,' Harry thought to himself.

His mind raced as he stared blankly into the fire in the lounge. He hadn't even noticed that the fire was the only light in the room or that it was strangely quiet even for only the three of them being in the tower.

"Are you sure this is the best idea? Look at him Ron, he doesn't even notice anything that's going on," Hermione said, carefully watching the expression on Harry's face. 'Is that a smile? It's been so long since I've seen him smiling,' she thought to herself.

"He'll be fine Hermione, let's give the signal for the rest," Ron said, using his wand to send up green sparks.

Harry sighed as he sat thinking of Hermione. What was he thinking? How could he have fallen in love with his best friend. Especially after knowing since third year that Ron fancied her. 'Stop being a git,' Harry told himself. 'It's your birthday and your best mates are trying to cheer you up,' he continued, deeply lost in his thoughts.

* * *

"Surprise!" A crowd of voices burst out from every corner of the common room. Harry looked around and saw the whole Weasley family, minus Percy the prat who still hadn't made peace with his family. Harry also saw several members of the order, among them Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody. In the far corner Harry finally caught sight of his godfather. Harry stayed seated on the couch overwhelmed by his thoughts and the people in the room.

"Harry are you okay?" Hermione asked, coming up to Harry and sitting on the couch with him so she could put her arms around him. It was almost habit for her to seek him out for a hug. 'Where did that come from?' Hermione thought to herself. It was so new for her to feel this way towards anyone, let alone Harry her best friend. She breathed in Harry's scent as her head rested on his broad shoulder. She smiled, he still smelled of what she could only describe as dewy grass and moonlight, a uniquely Harry scent that made him seem like he had just come off of the quidditch pitch.

Her touch made his heart race and his cheeks feel flush. "I'm fine Mione, thank you for making my birthday special. Its just that I'm not used to having people around for it. I'm usually in my room opening the packages that everyone sends," Harry said. He surveyed the room and saw that Fred and George were talking to Ron and his back was to them. Harry leaned over, putting his other arm around Hermione and kissed her cheek. Immediately he felt the warm tingly feeling spread through him again. "We should mingle Mione before Ron gets angry," Harry said, not sure why he had said that.

Hermione was in a daze as soon as she sat on the couch next to Harry. His voice nearly purring in her ear did not clear her muddled thoughts. Neither did his arm around her, or the kiss he placed on her cheek. "Why Mr. Potter, I do believe you're blushing, but you're right, we should go talk to everyone. I think Sirius would like a word with you," Hermione said, kissing his cheek in return.

* * *

Harry took a deep breath and ran his hand through his messy hair as he approached his godfather. "Not a word Sirius," Harry said, a brief smile on his face.

"Not at all, not yet anyway. How's the birthday boy?" Sirius asked. There was something serious that he needed to discuss with Harry later tonight, but the poor boy deserved to enjoy some time with his friends first. "Go on now and open your gifts. I need to talk to you, but it will wait until later," Sirius said.

"Are you sure? Is it something about Voldemort?" Harry asked, thinking about the damn prophecy.

"Yes I'm sure it will wait," Sirius said, avoiding the Voldemort question for now.

* * *

"Okay where are the gifts? Ron has been teasing me with them all day ever since he dragged me out of bed. I think I've been patient enough," Harry said, his smile broadening.

"Here you go Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said from half-way across the room.

Harry sat on the couch again where the gifts had been piled in the short time that Harry had stood up to talk to Sirius. There were packages of all sizes and shapes. He searched the lot for the gifts from his closest friends and saved them for the last. Picking up a small grey box he opened it quickly. Inside was a foe glass like the one in fake Moody's office in 4th year. "You never know when you'll need it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE," the real Moody bellowed from his spot behind the couch.

"Thanks Professor Moody. I'll put it on my dresser," Harry said.

"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me Professor. I never did teach you. I was locked in my trunk. Call me Mad-Eye," Moody said.

"Sorry, I still call Remus Professor Lupin most of the time and he hasn't taught me in almost three years," Harry said. He picked up a heavy brown package next and saw that it was from most of the Weasleys. Inside was a black cloak, a new pair of dragon-hide gloves, and a pair of dragon-hide boots as well. Also there was a sweater from Mrs. Weasley, and a variety of tricks and treats from the twins. "These boots are great, I was looking at them in a catalog. Is it true they can block most jinxes and hexes and even some curses?" Harry asked.

"Yes and they are always the right temperature and keep your feet dry. Bill and I went in on them and the cloak and gloves together. The cloak has hidden pockets everywhere including one for your broom, a holster for your wand, and places for other weapons. It's the type of cloak an Auror wears. We figured we'd get you started early," Charlie said.

"Wow thanks guys, its wonderful and I needed a new cloak anyway the old one is a couple of inches too short and its well, not very warm anymore," Harry said, picking up the next package which was a joint gift from the rest of the 6th year guys in Gryffindor. "Hey thanks," Harry called out to Dean, Seamus and Neville who had gotten him a revised version of Quidditch Through the Ages, one which had Harry's name in the list of youngest seekers to ever play at Hogwarts. The 6th year girls had gotten him contact lenses that would magically change to his exact prescription and always let him see clearly. "Hmm . . . maybe I won't have to worry about always breaking my glasses during battle this year," Harry said.

"That was the idea," Lavender said with a smile.

Harry picked up the last of the presents that he hadn't set aside and opened it. The card opened itself and began to speak. 'Harry, this is something I think will benefit you eventually, if not this year. Part of the gift you are already familiar with. The other is what lets you know that you are its true handler. Use it well.'

"No need to guess who this is from. You are the only one who tells me to use it well Professor Dumbledore," Harry said, laughing as he opened the odd shaped package. The first thing he saw was a sword, but not just any sword. "The Sword of Gryffindor sir?"

"Yes Harry. It has been yours since you pulled it from the sorting hat in your second year. You have been the first to wield it since Godric Gryffindor himself," Dumbledore said. Then he added, "That is not all of your gift, look at the other item."

Harry pulled out a black velvet pouch and untied the strings. When he shook the pouch into his hand a large silver ring lay in his palm. "Sir, why is the ring warm, and what are the symbols on it?" Harry asked, his curious nature working overtime.

"They look like ancient runes Harry," Hermione said. She was curious why Professor Dumbledore was giving Harry clues to his identity as the heir of Gryffindor before he had even started proper Occlumency lessons but she didn't say anything.

"Very good Ms. Granger. If school were in session that would be worth 5 points to Gryffindor," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling madly.

"Wear the ring whenever you think you are ready Harry. I don't know all the things it will help you do as I am not the one meant to wear it. It was your father's legacy and has just been found which is why I have not been able to give it to you before now. I believe that James also received it on his sixteenth birthday," Dumbledore said.

Harry set the ring back in its pouch and continued opening his gifts. Remus and Sirius had finished off his set of Defense books and had also added a set of Auror training manuals. From Tonks he had gotten a collection of Honeydukes sweets and a dress robe in a rich dark Gryffindor red with gold fastenings and trim. Hagrid had given him an old book of animals suited for Animagus transformations, which had a large section on magical creatures. Harry was surprised that someone seemed to know what he had hoped to accomplish this year, with or without an adult's assistance. Finally, he was left with gifts from Ginny, Ron and Hermione. Ginny had given him a new set of seeker's gloves and a tin of owl treats for Hedwig, both of which Harry appreciated since he wasn't able to get to Diagon Alley to do any of the shopping he needed to do. "Thanks Gin. I needed both of these things but had no way to get them," Harry said, giving her a hug.

"That's what I figured and I know how much you would like to play again and well your old gloves are nearly worn through from so many practices and games," Ginny said, hugging him back. She noticed that Hermione seemed a bit jealous that someone else was hugging Harry and that made Ginny smile. Finally Harry and Hermione were going to get together, she thought.

"Well I know you'll save Hermione's for last so open mine mate," Ron said, handing Harry a package wrapped rather messily in snitch paper. Inside was a giant bag of Every Flavor Beans along with a chess set with dark green pieces on one side and dark blue on the other. "Maybe now you can actually learn to beat me," Ron said with a laugh.

"I doubt it but we'll have to break it in later and see," Harry said, picking up the last package from Hermione. It was the right size for a book. He opened it and it was actually a full set of school books for next year inside of a bottomless bag. "First of all thank you Mione, but how do you know what classes I'll be getting? We haven't gotten our OWL's yet. Secondly, where did you find this bag? I've been looking for one for two years in all the catalogs," Harry said, pulling Hermione close to him to hug her for the thoughtful gifts.

"I found the bag in a new shop in Diagon Alley when I bought one for myself. I couldn't resist getting one for you as well. I bought them for Ron and Ginny also and Neville and Luna will be getting them for Christmas," she said, whispering the last part into his ear. " I figured I owed all of you for my life from last year. But enough of thinking on that. As for the books, I just decided to assume you had gotten all the Auror classes you needed and bought those subjects and a few others for whatever electives you take," Hermione said, hugging Harry in return and leaning even closer to breath in his scent again and then kissed him on the cheek.

Harry's heart was pounding so loudly he was sure that everyone in the room could hear it. "Well thank you Mione. I have no idea now what to get you for your birthday but I'd better make it good hadn't I?" He asked with a laugh. Harry had taken the velvet ring pouch out of the box as well as the sword of Gryffindor and sat with the sword in his lap wondering why it seemed to be calling to him. Or maybe it was the ring that was calling to him.

* * *

Dumbledore sat and watched as Harry and Hermione sat progressively closer looking at the inscriptions on the ring and the blade of the sword. Then he smiled as Harry held the ring up to his finger debating whether to put it on.

"I don't know if I should or not Mione," Harry said.

"When has Dumbledore ever given you a dangerous gift?" Hermione said, her heart pounding and her pulse racing each time he called her Mione. "Here let me put it on for you. It seems like just a family signet ring to me. Maybe your family were aristocratic? Your father was a pure-blood after all. This seems a lot like a ring that nobility would wear," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment to get a closer look at the ring while at the same time holding his hand supporting him in case he decided to put the ring on.

"Alright then milady. Do me the honor of placing my family ring on my finger," Harry said.

"Yes my prince," Hermione said, playing along. Little did she know how close she was to the truth.

* * *

A few moments later Dumbledore approached them. "Well I see you've decided to wear the Ring of Merlin, and before you ask that is the only information I have on the ring. It is passed on to the eldest male in your family on your sixteenth birthday. There may be some more information in the Restricted section and if you wish I will give you permission to search before term begins, along with Ms. Granger of course," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling madly. "Oh and Sirius wishes to speak with you now Harry, on a bit more important matter. He is sorry that it is on your birthday but it must be discussed. Could you come over here for a few moments?" Dumbledore asked, gesturing to the study end of the common room away from the fireplace.

"Of course Professor," Harry said, setting the sword back in its box and following the Headmaster across the room, a feeling of dread settling in the pit of his stomach as he had noticed the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes had disappeared in an instant.


	5. Trapped

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Harry Potter as much as I wish I did. Please don't sue. You'll get about $20 for your trouble!

* * *

"Please sit Harry. I need to ask you about something now that you finally seem stronger," Sirius said. The broad smile that had been on his face watching Harry and Hermione flirting had vanished as quickly as the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes.

Harry sank into the plush chair that Dumbledore had conjured and sighed, fear gripping his heart. "What do you mean I finally seem stronger? What did you need to tell me?" Harry asked, his hands clenched in his lap so tightly he could feel the Ring of Merlin digging into his palm.

"Don't you remember what happened when you woke up Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Besides listening to Ron and Hermione fight and trying to figure out how you could still be alive . . . what else happened?" Harry asked, trying to remember if he had done anything that could cause the worried look that Dumbledore and Sirius now wore.

"I don't mean the first time Harry. I mean what happened later. First you asked if you could live with me now that the Dursleys were gone and we talked. Then you fell asleep. A few hours later something happened. You woke up screaming and your eyes rolled back in your head. You were clutching your scar and thrashing about. Ron said it looked like the usual nightmares you would have during the school year but before he or Hermione could do anything to bring you around you started convulsing and making some sort of a noise. After a few moments we realized you were . . . well you were speaking in Voldemort's voice," Sirius said.

"WHAT?" Harry screamed, standing up to pace in front of the table.

"Voldemort sensed you were weak from the attack and pushed his way into your mind. He wanted to scare everyone who heard him through you. He let us know that he would kill you Harry, after he let you watch him torture everyone close to you, starting with Ron and Hermione," Sirius said. He wished he hadn't brought this up today of all days, but it couldn't wait much longer. Voldemort had promised first blood would be spilled before school began. The kids needed to go away from Hogwarts for part of the summer to rest. It had been far too long since any of them had been able to act like the kids they were, Sirius thought.

* * *

Harry was trapped in his own mind watching flashes of people dying one by one. Unlike his previous visions of death these images had sound. He could hear his friends and the members of the Order screaming as they were killed one by one. His parents, Cedric, Sirius, Remus, Ron, and Hermione died over and over again and he couldn't stop it from happening even though he was there when each of them died.

"TAKE ME AND LEAVE THEM ALONE IT'S ME YOU WANT!" Harry screamed, his voice breaking down as he began to sob. Before he knew what had happened a ball of golden light flew from his clenched fist and blasted into the Gryffindor banner over the fireplace turning it into nothing more than a black streak on the stone wall. Next, another blast bounced from one portrait to another sending them all crashing to the ground and causing their occupants some moments of panic.

"You all think I'm crazy don't you?" Harry asked, his voice small and weak. "Don't come near me Mione. I'll hurt you. Stay with Ron you'll be safe," Harry said. He turned and curled into a ball sobbing loudly as though he couldn't help himself.

"No. Harry, we both love you," Hermione said, pulling Ron over to where Harry sat on the floor next to an overturned armchair.

* * *

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered. He was frightened watching Harry sitting there, his normally bright green eyes nearly lifeless. Ron did notice that Harry's demeanor did seem to calm when Hermione spoke. Ron squelched his jealousy even though it hurt to lose Hermione. At least she would be with Harry and the three of them would still be best mates. And there was the slim chance that they wouldn't work out and then Ron could maybe try again. Ron stood up and walked over to Sirius. "What are we going to do? He'll wind up in St. Mungo's at this rate," Ron said.

"You all need a safe place to rest before school starts. Somewhere where you can have some fun or at least not think about this bloody war for five minutes," Sirius said.

* * *

The others present in the room watched the commotion in stunned silence. They had all seen Harry's rage the previous year but never such a total display of emotion as the one they were witnessing now. Lavender and Parvati were silently crying watching Harry breakdown and Neville, Dean, and Seamus couldn't believe how their stoically strong friend, the epitome of a true Gryffindor, was just crumbling in front of them.

Moody took control of the situation and gestured for the students to follow him. "I think it would be best if you returned home. We'll go to the Headmaster's office and have you Floo from there. Would you come with us please Tonks?" Moody asked his coworker. Tonks nodded, her hair changing to a muted chartreuse to fit the suddenly solemn tone of the room.

Following the dull thump and clack of Moody's wooden leg the students soon found themselves at the stone gargoyles that marked Dumbledore's office. "Laffy Taffy," Moody said, engaging the door and the spiral staircase within.

"Never would have guessed a muggle candy," Dean commented quietly to Seamus and Neville who nodded their agreement.

Tonks ushered everyone into the office before closing the door with a soft click followed by Moody firing silencing spells and a few others that no one recognized. "Please sit. I need to speak with you about what you've witnessed tonight," Moody said gruffly, his magical eye rolling violently in the socket. "I assume that you understand somewhat the threat that Potter is under?" he said in such a way that it made everyone jump. "The event that you've seen tonight is not to be discussed with anyone who was not present. Even among those who were present discuss it, if you must, only when you are at Hogwarts," Moody continued, not waiting for anyone to answer his first question.

"Of course not Pro . . . Mad-Eye," Neville stammered. "I was with Harry last year. I know how important it is that he not be written about in the newspapers as a nutter again now that the Ministry has finally had to admit they were mistaken about You-Know-Who," he said.

"Well said Longbottom," Moody said, pacing the floor in a steady buzz of clanking and whirring. "Does anyone else have anything to add?" he asked the rest of the students.

"Could you please have someone tell Ron and Hermione to tell Harry that we'll always support him? After all, none of us would have done nearly as well on our DADA OWL as we think we have thanks to the DA last year. And that we'll be here for him whenever and however he needs us," Lavender said, speaking for the rest of the sixth year Gryffindors who nodded their agreement to her words.

"Well it seems Potter made a mistake in naming his little group last year. It should be Potter's Army. Nonetheless, we'll need an army by the time this is over. Tonks please make sure that Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley get that message to give to Potter. He needs to know he has friends," Moody said. "All right now time to get going. Grab the Floo Powder and CONSTANT VIGILANCE," he growled. The students jumped up, remembering the fake Moody in fourth year cursing them all, and grabbed for the Floo Powder. One by one they left Hogwarts until the start of the term on September 1.

* * *

The rest of the Weasley family stood watching silently, except for the occasional sob from either Ginny or Mrs. Weasley as they watched Harry crumple to the floor of the common room. "We should probably leave them," Charlie said, watching how only Hermione and Ron could even begin to approach Harry in this state.

"I want to stay mum. He's my friend too," Ginny protested.

"It would be for the best if we all left as little as I want to leave him the poor dear," Molly sobbed, dabbing her eyes with an already soaked handkerchief.

"But Ron is staying," Ginny persisted.

"GINERVA WEASLEY you are coming home and that's final. Ron will be staying. He and Hermione are the only ones who can help him right now. Let's go everyone," she said.

The Weasleys all headed for the fireplace in Dumbledore's office as it was the only one connected with the Floo Network and disappeared back to The Burrow.

* * *

Remus stood off to the side with his fists clenched tightly. The primal sounds that Harry was making were calling to his werewolf side while his human side felt as if someone had sucker punched him in the gut. He wanted to go over to Harry and hold him tight but knew that Harry wouldn't be able to deal with the human contact. He and Sirius had a lot to make up to Harry now that they were both taking godfather duty, Remus thought. That piece of Sirius's will was a shock to Remus as he was sure that the Ministry would never allow a werewolf to care for a young wizard, especially not Harry Potter. Remus figured that Dumbledore had something to do with that codicil being passed. Now though, Sirius was here and freed but had told Remus that they would care for Harry together since both of them were sharing Grimmauld Place anyway.

* * *

Dumbledore watched in awe of the sheer magical power that flooded through Harry. It was yet another demonstration of 'the power the dark lord knew not' which seemed to show itself more when Harry felt that the lives of his friends were in danger. He knew that he would have to train Harry in Occlumency quickly to avoid these occasions when Voldemort would attempt to possess Harry and Dumbledore hoped that the ring Harry now wore would help in making the training easier. It was no ordinary signet ring that Mr. Potter now wore, it was the key to Harry's past, and his future. His thoughts were interrupted by Sirius coming over to see what was to be done with Harry and his friends with everything that was happening.

"Albus sir, they need privacy and peace," Sirius said.

"They must not leave the castle. Grimmauld Place is not safe yet even with your wards for Harry. They are not enough since his blood protection from Privet Drive is now destroyed," Dumbledore said.

* * *

Harry's cries increased in volume causing everyone to stop their discussions and look toward where Hermione and Ron were trying to console their friend. "Harry, come on, let me help you up. You need to rest," Hermione said softly, noticing the way Harry's eyes drooped from fatigue even as he tried to keep them open.

"Please Mione I don't want Voldemort to hurt you. He's going to come through me and I can't be responsible for any more pain," Harry said, fighting the tears back.

"Let it out Harry. We'll stop this together as we always have ever since the day two loud brash boys knocked out a mountain troll to save a know-it-all bookworm," Hermione said. She pulled Harry closer to her and wrapped her arms around him, ceasing his struggles. Harry laid his head on her shoulder and breathed in her scent, strawberries and vanilla. His eyes fluttered and then closed, he was safe for the time being.

* * *

Everyone let out a breath that they hadn't known they were holding and continued to watch Hermione calm Harry. Already his magical energy was fading back into his body and the portraits stopped crashing to the ground. Everything was still and quiet. "What are we going to do Albus?" Remus asked his brow furrowed with worry.

"We seem to have recently gained a spare room of requirement. They shall stay there until the term begins and anytime after when they need peace and comfort. No one else will be able to enter and I will give them a portrait guardian to watch over them and report to myself or Minerva if there is trouble," Dumbledore announced to Sirius and Remus. Ron had been standing close by watching the scene with a heavy heart but smiled when he heard the Headmaster's solution. Trust Dumbledore to have everything solved and calm everyone down in record time. "Miss Granger, do not wake him but let Sirius carry him to your new room," Dumbledore said, his voice quieting at the sight of Harry curled into Hermione's shoulder. He looked much younger than his 16 years, the Headmaster thought. He led the way to a little used corridor near the Gryffindor common room and paced beside the wall hanging three times until the door appeared. "Welcome to the private chambers of H.R.H. I trust I do not need to tell you again how much Harry needs both of you to get through this," Dumbledore said.

* * *

Sirius set Harry down on a scarlet and gold four-poster bed in the center of the room. Ron and Hermione immediately took their positions guarding him, Ron on the left and Hermione on the right. "It seems you two have things in order. Keep him safe," Sirius said. "Sleep well my godson," Sirius whispered in Harry's ear.

Remus came over and was no longer able to resist the impulse to hug Harry. "Take care of him Hermione, you as well Ron. Thank you for sticking by his side even when he wanted you to abandon him," Remus said, tears forming in his eyes as he left the room.


	6. HRH

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Harry Potter as much as I wish I did. Please don't sue. You'll get about $20 for your trouble!

**AN**: Here I am again with more changes (I do it so you'll go back and read my story over again...LOL). No really I am just trying to fix my earlier mistake of having such short chapters (Not that 2-3 thousand words per chapter is much better but I'm not used to writing such long works). Anyway please read my revisions, or at least keep reading the story. Thanks again to all my reviewers! I've honestly gotten more of a response than I thought I would. I would love to see 4-5 reviews for this chapter and I thank you in advance. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Harry woke up feeling something next to him in bed. He looked over and saw Ron softly snoring on one side and then turned to the other side to find Hermione, her face bathed in sunlight. Harry sat up groggy and sore. He looked up at the enchanted calendar and gasped. It was August 3. The last thing Harry remembered was talking to Sirius at his birthday party, which meant that he had been asleep for three days.

Hermione felt the bed move and opened her eyes. She smiled when she saw that Harry was finally awake. "It's about time you woke up Harry. Ron and I can't wait to show you what we've found in this room so far," Hermione said with a smile on her face.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, knowing that they had been in the Gryffindor common room for his party but this place looked totally different. He was also disoriented by waking up with he and his best friends sharing the same bed. "Did you sleep here to watch over me?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes Harry. We were going to take turns staying awake to watch you. The last nightmare you had was so strong that it took both Ron and I to calm you down and then you kept a hold of us when we tried to go back to our own beds. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you Harry," Hermione said, leaning closer and closer to him.

"Oh come on and just snog already," Ron said, having woken up.

"We'll have to work on your timing Ron," Hermione said with a smile, kissing Harry's cheek and hugging Ron. "Come on now you two and get dressed, it's already noon. Maybe we'll finally get our OWL scores today and we have a lot to explore," Hermione said, picking up her clothes and turning to leave.

* * *

As soon as she had left the room Harry turned to Ron, "I'm sorry mate," he said as he dressed.

"For what?" Ron asked.

"Falling for Mione when I know that you've fancied her for the last three years," Harry answered.

"No I'm happy for you two really. I was jealous at first but then I saw how she was the only one who could get through to you after what happened in the common room. She and I talked and she admitted she's had a crush on you ever since she met us on the train when we were 11. And there is someone I sort of like anyway," Ron said, blushing red almost immediately.

"Who is she?" Harry asked.

"Promise not to laugh?" Ron asked.

"Marauder's honor," Harry said.

"Luna Lovegood," Ron said.

"Well I'll help you figure out a way to get her Ron," Harry said.

* * *

They finished dressing and exited the bedroom where somehow Harry's bed had been transported during his three day nap. He noticed his name on the door in silver letters and two other doors nearby which were Ron and Hermione's rooms. Then Harry noticed at least six other doors around the main room.

"What are all the doors for? What is this place anyway?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore said it's a spare room of requirement that he made into a private chamber for the three of us, but especially for you Harry. You're safest at Hogwarts. The wards Sirius put up at Grimmauld Place aren't very secure yet and The Burrow is a bit crowded to really be peaceful," Hermione said in one breath.

"Remember to breathe," Harry whispered in her ear, his lips turning up into a slight smile.

"He also said he would find us a portrait guard in case something happens. I wonder which of these portraits is the main door?" Ron said.

* * *

"I believe you're looking for us," A male voice said from behind them near the fireplace.

Harry thought he had heard the voice before but he wasn't sure. Hermione gasped as she looked at the people in the painting. The man was tall with dark wild hair and bright hazel eyes and he was holding the hand of a beautiful woman with hair bright enough to be mistaken for a Weasley and familiar deep emerald eyes. "Oh Harry . . . Dumbledore's given us the perfect guard. Harry, it's your parents," Hermione said, turning him around and gesturing toward the portrait.

"Mum . . . Dad?" Harry asked in shock.

"It's us son. Dumbledore found our old Head Boy and Head Girl portrait and moved us here to watch over you three," James said calmly.

"I have my whole family around me," Harry whispered, more to himself than to the others in the room.

"That's right sweetie we're here now and you have Sirius and Remus, not to mention your friends here. Or should I say guards. Thank you for keeping my baby safe," Lily said, tears in her eyes.

"We don't mind Mrs. Potter," Hermione said.

"Please dear, call us by our first names," Lily said.

"I dare say you'll be family soon enough anyway," James added and then ducked as Lily smacked him upside the back of his head.

"How is your painting so real? It's . . . you're so . . . alive," Harry said, at a loss for words.

"It's the way the portrait was made. We chose to leave behind much of ourselves in it when we were taken away from you so soon. It's much like the portraits of the old headmaster's in Professor Dumbledore's office," Lily explained.

"We'll have plenty of time to chat though son. I believe you three were set to explore your new hangout. Come on let's see what the next generation of Marauders can do. We've already heard plenty of stories from Remus and Sirius last night," James said smiling broadly.

* * *

Harry's own smile soon matched his father's. "What are we waiting for? Lets have an adventure!" Harry said.

"We won't even need the map or the cloak this time," Ron said.

"And no one is trying to kill us either," Harry said.

"Hush Harry. There's no need to dwell on that," Hermione said smiling. She was all for a little adventure if it meant that Harry would smile more often. "I'm sure it's perfectly safe after all Professor Dumbledore created this room for us and he doesn't want to see us killed, or worse expelled," Hermione said.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather study or wait for our OWL's?" Harry asked Hermione teasingly.

"Of course not. I'm just as curious as you two are," Hermione said, shooting a fake scowl at her boys. "Besides I already finished the summer work we have and you two are nearly done," she added.

* * *

Harry reached for the doorknob on the first door they spotted and pushed the door open. He was surprised to see the stone steps leading from the dormitories to the Gryffindor common room. "Well we've found a shortcut to the common room. I wonder how we'll explain just showing up," Harry said.

The three retreated to their private space, which they had already christened H.R.H or The Marauders Lair. Hermione smiled when she noticed the parchment sitting on their table. "How much do you want to bet this explains things?" she said, opening the note.

Dumbledore's voice broke the silence. 'Congratulations on discovering one of this rooms many mysteries. I've given you three a discreet way to rejoin your house mates when you wish. As for explaining your absence in the dormitories, I have come up with an explanation. Congratulations to Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger on retaining their prefect status for sixth year and congratulations to Mr. Potter for becoming the third Gryffindor sixth year prefect. With the new dangers I have increased the number of prefects and enhanced their responsibilities, but this you will find out in the first meeting. Your badges will be in your start of term letters arriving shortly. What this means for you is that with this privilege and responsibility comes your own room which most people will assume is at the bottom of the tower stairs. Now as you'll notice there are many other doors to explore. Take me with you, I'll explain as you explore,' Dumbledore said.

"Well with an offer like that," Harry said, linking his arm through Hermione's.

* * *

Ron opened the next door eagerly and stepped inside. 'Well I see you've found the library, no doubt Miss Granger's favorite door. Don't groan boys. As you'll notice no one in the library is any wiser to your presence, which means no need of your invisibility cloak or the map to make your annual visit to the restricted section. There will be several books of interest there, including Moste Potente Potions, which I believe you three are familiar with from your second year. I trust you will not mess up Myrtle's bathroom too much if you try to make something you find in there again,' Dumbledore said with an unmistakable chuckle. The trio could almost hear his eyes twinkling as the note spoke. 'Oh and Harry, the book you seek is on the third shelf from the left about four feet up from the floor. Use it as well as your father and godfathers did,' Dumbledore added.

They returned to their chamber in uncontrollable laughter. "He knows us too bloody well. How did he find out about the Polyjuice potion in second year?" Ron said.

"You made Polyjuice potion in second year? Did it work?" James asked from the portrait.

"We had to do it to try to find out who had opened the chamber of secrets. We thought it was Malfoy so we went to the Slytherin common room as Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione was supposed to be Millicent Bulstrode but she ended up not being able to come out of the bathroom stall," Harry said.

"Why not?" Lily asked.

"Let's just say we found out why the book said that Polyjuice doesn't work for animal transformations. The hair wasn't from Bulstrode but from her cat," Harry said.

"Blimey it took Sirius, Remus, and I until fifth year to find that book and we could never get the potion right. We did learn to make Remus's wolfsbane potion from it though," James said.

"Wolfsbane is in a book of mostly illegal potions?" Harry asked.

"It's controlled by the Ministry. They don't want to do anything to help the werewolves blend into society," Lily answered.

"That's terrible. We should probably brew up a batch for Pro . . . Remus in case Snape decides not to do it for some reason. We can send it to him wherever he's going to be . . . Headquarters I would assume," Hermione said.

"I think that Remus will be a little closer than you think after what's happened," James said.

"You don't think . . . Dumbledore could have asked him to stay here as the DADA professor," Harry said.

"Look at what you've done James, you've ruined the surprise," Lily said.

"Don't worry we would have figured it out anyway as soon as book lists come. He told us what he would assign for reading if he were still our professor so if that book is on the list we would have known anyway," Hermione answered.

"They're too smart for their own good," James said.

* * *

"By the way Harry, what exactly is that book that Dumbledore pointed out to you?" Hermione asked, sinking down onto the couch as it was starting to get late and she was tired.

"Wow we spent a long time exploring. Its dinner time already," Ron said, wondering if they should go down to the great hall to eat.

"It's the book that my dad and Sirius used to become Animagi. I saw it in a dream the night I was attacked and memorized the title. Dumbledore must have used Leglimancy on me and saw that I was thinking about it. Would you two like to learn with me? Yes Mione, we'll register ourselves eventually but I want to learn as they did," Harry said, also sitting on the couch.

"Of course mate," Ron said, still thinking about his dinner.

"As long as we register eventually, it will be an interesting way to spend the last month of our summer. Professor Dumbledore must be okay with it since he told us where the book is and gave us a way to get it," Hermione said.

"He also told us how to get a book of potions we shouldn't make. Then he told us only to try not to mess up the off-limits girls bathroom when we tried something from the book," Harry pointed out with a chuckle.

* * *

"Are you three getting hungry?" Lily asked them. She was amused watching the teens interact. It was almost as if they could read each other's thoughts.

"Yes," Ron said eagerly.

"Ron, you're always hungry," Hermione said.

"He has the right idea though. I guess we have to leave our sanctuary and trudge down to the hall or maybe the kitchens to get some food," Harry said.

"Nope. Dumbledore thought of everything. He connected your table here with the kitchens and left a few menus. It looks like you three can order anything you want from downstairs and stay right in here if you wanted to," James said, gesturing to the previously clear table. It now had three gold plates with matching cutlery and goblets sitting on it.

"Those poor house-elves they have even more work now," Hermione said.

"I'll bet Dobby is our personal elf and he is getting paid Mione," Harry said.

"Haven't you given up on spew yet?" Ron asked.

"It's not spew Ron its S.P.E.W and no I'm just thinking up new ideas," Hermione said.

"So let's eat then I'm almost as hungry as Ron," Harry said, trying to stop an argument he'd heard a thousand times already.

They turned to look at the menus and then pointed their wands at their plates. "Fish and chips and a Butterbeer please," Hermione said.

"Shepherd's Pie and a Butterbeer," Harry said.

"Steak and kidney pie and a firewhiskey," Ron said. He frowned when his goblet was filled with Butterbeer but shrugged and took a drink. "It was worth a try," he said.

* * *

After supper the boys finished the four scroll essay for Snape while Hermione read Hogwarts, A History for the hundredth time. Stifling a yawn Harry glanced over where she was reading and smiled. Hermione looked up out of instinct and smiled back, happy to have caught him looking at her. She stood up and walked over to him. Sitting next to him, she kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear. "We should get to bed, especially you Harry you look exhausted. Are you sure you don't need at least one of us to stay with you tonight?" she asked.

"I'm sure Mione. I don't want to keep you and Ron up anymore than I've already done. I'm sure you'll hear me if I have another dream," Harry said, leaning closer to Hermione, his cheek touching hers. For a breathless moment the two of them sat mesmerized by the sensation. Ron noticed this and silently left the room to go to bed.

"Goodnight Harry," Hermione said.

"Night Mione," Harry said, resisting his impulse to kiss her lips and settled for her cheek, his lips lingering against her skin. Then they separated and walked to their rooms for the night.


	7. The Ties That Bind

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Harry Potter as much as I wish I did. Please don't sue. You'll get about $20 for your trouble! (Actually about $5 now since I've done my Christmas shopping . . . LOL!)

**AN**: Sorry for the vast delay but RL (Real Life) reared its ugly head again. I promise I won't leave a month go by for the next update. I have nearly half of chapter 8 typed out as well and I will post it after I get a few reviews (and after I fix a problem or two with a plot hole the size of the Grand Canyon that I've written myself into). Please review!! Thank you to all who have reviewed and happy reading!!

* * *

Not quite an hour later, the silence was shattered by an agonizing scream. Harry's hand clenched his scar as he convulsed. Low gurgling noises came from his throat as he battled the visions in his dream. Harry was in a dark stone chamber which he thought, at first, was the chamber of secrets. He looked closer but didn't see any snakes decorating the doors. Instead there was a large black bird with rubies for eyes. As the pain in his scar continued Harry realized that he was seeing through Voldemort's eyes. Then he heard his dream self speak. "We are almost there my humble slaves. We must succeed in finding the one thing that will guarantee my victory. The lost wand of Grindelwald is nearly ours. Then we shall start our attack by eliminating Harry Potter," Voldemort said while Harry was helplessly trapped in the dark lord's mind. Harry's body began to convulse again as the strain of being possessed by Voldemort became too much. Another scream tore through the air frantically. 

The portrait of Lily and James sprung to life as James bolted to his other portrait in the Headmaster's room to wake Dumbledore after listening to Harry's screams and cries for the last few minutes. The noise also woke Hermione who bolted upright in bed and tore open the door between her room and Harry's. Her face palled to sheet white as she watched him thrashing about, his scar bleeding freely. Then Hermione sprang into action. Crossing to the bed she wrapped her arms around him in a death grip waiting for his convulsions to cease.

* * *

"ALBUS," James screamed as popped into his other portrait in Dumbledore's chambers. 

At the noise the Headmaster nearly jumped out of bed and turned to see what had woken him. "What happened to Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"He's having a nightmare, I think. He woke Lily and I with his screaming but there aren't any portraits in his room so we couldn't tell for sure," James said.

"I had hoped, now that he was wearing the ring, that the dreams would be reduced," Albus said with a frown.

"He's wearing The Ring of Merlin? Does he know what it means?" James asked, remembering clearly some of the problems that had started on his sixteenth birthday when he put the ring on his finger.

"He does not know yet about the full legacy. Only that it may help him down the road, and that it means he is the true owner of the sword of Gryffindor which I also gave to him," Dumbledore said.

"And let me guess, his Leglimancy skills are stronger than his Occlumency skills so instead of helping him block things out it is increasing the strength of what he sees and feels in his dream," James said.

"It appears that way. Let us go and I'll tend to him," Dumbledore said, striding down the stairs and across the room to the door leading to the secret room where Harry and his friends now lived. James quickly popped back into his portrait with Lily to watch over the scene.

* * *

Just after Hermione had thrown her arms around Harry she felt the room begin to spin somewhat violently. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears along with a second pulsing beat. 'Is that Harry's heart beating?' Hermione asked herself. The colours swam before her, each brighter than the last. She could also smell that scent, Harry's scent, as if it were a part of herself. Salty tears wet her lips and she tasted each drop as she never had before. Then one more sensation burst into her mind. She could feel a myriad of emotions, including a deep fear that she knew she was not feeling. Hermione allowed herself to absorb these foreign feelings coming in waves from Harry's still trembling body in her arms. She smiled at his happiness, cried with his pain, and at long last knew that he loved her as much as she loved him. Hermione felt his love, though deeply hidden away, seep from his soul. It soon filled the room with its presence. "Why didn't you ever tell me you loved me this much?" Hermione asked. 

Harry felt someone, or something, reach out to grab him. He did the only thing he could do at the time. He screamed in pain, desperate to fight the intruder. Before his second scream could leave his lips, another swirl of light filled the room and Harry suddenly could see colour again. In his dream it had been all dark with swirls of ominous green fog. Now he saw everything in sharp detail. His ears picked up the rapid heartbeat of the person who now gently held him in bed. Harry recognized the feel of those hands, the sound of that heartbeat. 'It's just Hermione,' Harry thought, starting to relax in her arms. He could smell her shampoo and the light scent of the body spray she liked to wear. He realized quickly that he could sense her fear and sadness and a third emotion that seemed to overpower everything else, her love for him. Harry would have opened his eyes in an instant to soothe Hermione if his scar didn't choose that moment to explode like a white-hot poker, rendering him nauseous.

Hermione felt Harry tense in her arms as his hand clenched his scar. She could see the blood run faster from between his fingers and panic started to creep into the pit of her stomach. Hermione's hand moved his hair aside and she somehow moved his hand away and gently pressed her own small hand over his scar. She was aware that she might hurt him but she needed to help him ease the pain. She almost jerked her hand away when she first made contact. Hermione wasn't aware that it would be hot to the touch, as if the lighting bolt were charged with real electricity. She simply bit her lower lip and pressed her hand even more firmly against Harry's head, waiting for him to calm again.

* * *

In the other room, Ron lay trembling. He could see darkness all around him. It was a strange room filled with ominous green fog that swirled everywhere. He could feel vague faint hints that reminded him of Harry. Short bursts of terror and fear and an undercurrent of courage flooded his senses. Something else filled the air a moment later and Ron was surrounded by colour and a sense of peace. Images of his friends in Harry's room played before his eyes. He could tell exactly what was happening without being there. Ron jumped from under his covers and raced towards the other room. He needed to be there. "What the bloody hell happened?" Ron asked, coming into the room. His face was extremely pale and covered in sweat as though he'd run a marathon. 

"He's had the worst nightmare yet. I had to hold him down to stop him from screaming," Hermione answered.

"I know what happened to Harry. I want to know why I saw it all without being in this room," Ron said.

"I think we need to see Dumbledore. Something strange happened to me as well, when I touched Harry," Hermione said, worrying her lower lip.

"What?" Ron asked. He noticed that Hermione had her hand pressed over Harry's scar and that her hand was starting to tremble while at the same time Harry was slowly relaxing into her arms. "Merlin, Hermione, you're an empath. From the way Harry is reacting, I'll bet anything that he is too. Should I go get Dumbledore?" Ron asked, realizing that neither of his friends were in a state to go anywhere.

"How do you know, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"My mum told me about it once. She said it was a rare magical gift, like being a Metamorphmagi or a Seer. I don't know much more than that," Ron said.

* * *

"I believe I can answer that in more detail," Professor Dumbledore said. He was standing in the only doorway that the trio hadn't yet explored. The door that led directly to his office. 

"Please Professor. I can't wake him," Hermione said, worried as Harry's breathing became rather shallow.

Professor Dumbledore looked at Harry and sighed. "As usual it is much worse for Harry, although all three of you now have a rather hard cross to bear," he said. He looked at Harry for a moment longer before pulling out his wand and touching it to the boy's chest. "Enerviate," the Headmaster said, waking Harry at last from the prison of his nightmare.

Even though Harry had woken, Hermione still kept her hand over his scar. It was painfully hot against her suddenly ice cold hand. The same hand that now shook as his emotions flowed through her rapidly. Then it hit one particular feeling which caused Hermione to break their link. "No, Harry, you can't think that way," she said, tears forming in her eyes. "HARRY JAMES POTTER, HOW CAN YOU THINK EVEN FOR ONE MOMENT THAT YOU'D BE BETTER OFF DEAD!" Hermione yelled in shock. Tears flooded her cheeks as she saw what her yelling had done to Harry and she flung herself over him on the bed. "I already told you, Harry, that I don't know what I'd do without you. Oh Harry, . . . I love you. I know you don't have much experience with love but I promise you that no matter what happens I'll be here when you need me," Hermione said. She kissed his cheeks and forehead. Then she took a shaky breath and gently pressed her lips to his much as she had done to wake him up after he had been attacked on Privet Drive.

"Mione?" Harry said, the kiss causing him to come back to reality. Then he flinched at their bodies proximity. "You're too close, Mione. He'll . . . I'll hurt you," Harry said.

"It's not you, Harry. It's Voldemort. You have to fight what he's telling you. You would never hurt me and you know it. You also know that I'm not afraid of Voldemort," Hermione said, saying the monster's name without a tremble of fear in her voice.

"That's good. I am," Harry said softly, tears forming in his normally bright eyes. They were a dull jade green, full of pain and sorrow.

A tear slipped from Albus Dumbledore's wise azure eyes. His heart broke thinking how very close they all were to watching Harry turn into a mere shadow on the wall. 'I'm sorry Harry for all that I've done. And all that I've failed to do in keeping you safe,' Albus thought to himself.

* * *

"So what happened tonight?" Ron asked, looking back and forth from Harry to Dumbledore. 

"I'll start with you Mr. Weasley. It appears that you are a seer. You tuned into your friends this evening and you were able to see what was happening," Dumbledore said.

"If I'm a seer, why did I do so bloody awfully in Divination?" Ron asked.

"Your gift appears to have been hidden until it was needed, and it will be in the months ahead. You can train yourself to tune into your friends and sense when they are in danger," Dumbledore said.

"Well, I'd better prepare myself to see a lot then. Harry has an uncanny knack for attracting danger," Ron said, trying to break the heavy blanket of tension in the room.

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "That he does, Mr. Weasley, that he does," the Headmaster agreed. All of a sudden he looked much older than Harry, Ron, and Hermione remembered and it made them sad.

Hermione sat up after her outburst and wrapped her arms around Harry's waist. She was relieved that he hadn't completely pushed her away. "What happened with Harry and I?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"As Mr. Weasley pointed out, my dear, you are an empath. At some point you started to be able to feel what Harry was feeling. In return he felt what you were feeling. It was so strong I would hazard that even Mr. Weasley had a few glimpses of the emotions involved. As I said, Harry, you are a complex situation for not only are you a strong empath but also a seer. Not all of the visions you keep having are Voldemort's intrusions into your mind," Dumbledore said.

"So when I could tell that it was Hermione trying to help me it was me feeling her emotions. Everything was so bright and I could almost feel her hand in mine even before she touched me. I felt her love for me and it made me come back," Harry said.

"Oh Harry. It was the same for me. All of a sudden I could tell how much pain you were in and all I wanted to do was to make it go away. So I put my hand over your scar. It was so hot I think it burned my palm," Hermione said, tightening her hold on Harry.

"I feel strangely peaceful. Thank you, Mione. I can tell that was your influence and I'm sorry I upset you with my thoughts before," Harry said, squeezing her hand.

"You're welcome, Harry. You deserve some peace. I just wish you didn't feel that way, but I still won't let you go," Hermione said, leaning down to kiss him again, this time on the cheek.

* * *

"It seems the two of you are able to use your gift fairly well. If everything is settled a bit, we should all retire for the night. I believe your OWL's will be here in the morning and you may want to consider re-taking at least one of your tests as I know there were circumstances out of the ordinary last spring," Professor Dumbledore said. 

Harry looked around the room closely watching Ron's face. "You saw my dream didn't you, Ron?" Harry asked, picking up on his friend's unease.

"It was awful. I couldn't stop the connection," Ron said, his face losing much of its colour.

"We can discuss the dream tomorrow. I know you've used a Pensive before, Harry, you can show your friends," Dumbledore said, standing up, preparing to leave.

"Yes sir. Professor Dumbledore . . . does Mione have to leave me all alone tonight? I know what adults usually think, and you know we have feelings for each other, but she's keeping me calm and I don't want any more dreams," Harry said, not quite able to say that he loved Hermione, out loud anyway.

"You know I'm not thinking that, Harry," Dumbledore said. With a wave of his wand Hermione and Harry's room became one large room with two beds, matching desks, and a two-person couch set in front of the fireplace. "There's Floo powder in the box if you need to contact me in the middle of the night. Otherwise you can tell the portrait of your parents and they can contact me," Dumbledore added, conjuring up a pretty gold and red box on the mantle with a detailed carving of a lion rampant on the cover who lazily let out a roar and went back to sleep. "Mr. Weasley, would you prefer your own room or shall I turn this into a one bedroom apartment?" the Headmaster asked.

"I think I'll be able to see what's wrong just fine from next door. I'll let the two lovebirds rest," Ron said, smiling at his best friends. There were some situations you went through where you couldn't help becoming friends for life. Knocking out a twelve foot mountain troll at the age of 11 was one of them, Ron thought to himself.

* * *

"Night Ron," both Harry and Hermione said, nearly asleep already, still perched on Harry's bed. Professor Dumbledore and Ron shared a smile. Both of them doubting that the second bed would get much use, knowing that Harry and Hermione preferred to be as close together as possible at this moment at least. 

"I will see you three in the morning, Mr. Weasley, oh and tell Harry I'll leave a miniature of the portrait of his parents in the main room to put in their room in case something happens again. His mum said something about wanting to watch over him.

"How about I just find a place for it right now. James and Lily will want to see this," Ron said, taking the small painting and hanging it over the mantle of the fireplace. "Perfect," Ron said as he returned to his own room.

"I couldn't have said it better myself Mr. Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said, watching his students for a few moments before retiring back to his office. This conversation with The Golden Trio weighed particularly heavy on his mind.


	8. Of OWL's and Dreams

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Harry Potter as much as I wish I did. Please don't sue. You'll get about $20 for your trouble! (Is this really necessary for every chapter...)

**AN**: Well I think I've filled the plot hole. I only hope I haven't given too much away in this chapter. Now you'll know some of what the Trio is planning and get more of an idea about what kind of powers they may have down the road. Please review and I thank everyone for reading up to this point. Don't worry you'll see some other characters besides the Trio soon but the story mostly focuses on them as well as Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore at least until school begins.

* * *

The next morning each member of the Trio woke quickly, almost as if they could sense that the other two were also awake and eager to get to the business of the day. Ron was eager for a hearty breakfast and hoped to send an owl without being caught by his friends. He scrambled into some clothes a full two hours earlier than he ever had woken up voluntarily before and made his way out to the common room. Fifteen minutes and eight drafts of his letter later he was tying the finished product to Pig's leg when he sensed his friends entering the room. "What are you sending Ron?" Harry asked. 

"Um...just a letter," Ron said, his face slowly turning crimson.

"We can see that Ron. Are you writing to your family?" Hermione asked.

Ron thought for a moment about lying and saying that it was for his family but he didn't want to lie to his friends. "No, please don't laugh, it's to Luna," Ron said quietly.

"Why would I laugh? Luna is a very sweet girl . . . a little different, but very nice," Hermione answered.

"I was hoping maybe she, Ginny, and Neville could join us before the school year starts. We'd have the run of the school. Hey, maybe we could find a way to lay some pranks for the Slytherins," Ron said.

"It would be nice to see Ginny again. And Harry's dad did seem awfully sure we were the new Marauders," Hermione said.

"There's no doubt there," James spoke up after listening to the conversation.

"I'm afraid Dad is right, Mione, we've already gone on too many adventures to not have picked up the mischief title," Harry said.

* * *

The three jumped as they heard a portrait swing open and hit the stone wall with a thump. "Hmm that was louder than I expected. I hope I didn't scare too many years off of your lives," Dumbledore said, entering the room in a swirl of majestic deep purple robes with millions of silver stars charmed to twinkle in response to the Headmaster's mood. 

"Not at all, Professor Dumbledore, we're used to loud unexpected noises by now," Harry said.

"That you are my boy," Dumbledore said. He moderated the merry twinkle in both his eyes and his robe for a moment. "I came to discuss your dream last night. If it's easier, I've brought my pensive," he said, pulling a stone bowl from his pocket and setting it on the table.

Harry didn't answer he simply pulled out his wand, placed it at his temple and pulled several strands of shiny silver from near his hairline, watching as they splashed into the basin and swirled ominously. The trio and Dumbledore leaned closer to the basin until they fell in with a splash.

Instantly the air turned cold and clammy. The deep inky blackness was broken only by the evil green fog at their feet. Harry felt Hermione's hand in his as he struggled to control his breathing and remind himself that it was just a dream and nothing in here could hurt him physically. The dream replayed itself slowly as the details in the stone chamber showed themselves more clearly. Then they popped out of the pensive all a little shaken, even Dumbledore, Harry thought in surprise.

"Grindelwald's chamber," Dumbledore said softly.

"I was in Voldemort's head again. I . . . he was talking to the Death Eaters about finding the last piece of his power. Something about a wand," Harry said, trying to remember more clearly what he had heard since the words had mainly been lost while they had been in the pensive. Then he remembered, "Grindelwald's lost wand," Harry said.

"I would think after he was defeated that Grindelwald's wand would have been snapped," Hermione said, rubbing Harry's hand soothingly as she sensed his fear.

"It would have been had we found it. It disappeared during the battle and hasn't been seen since. If Voldemort gets it and combines its core with his own wand he'll gain immeasurable powers. I'll alert the Order," Dumbledore said, tucking his pensive back into his pocket and pulling out three official looking envelopes from the opposite pocket. "That's enough of that topic before breakfast. Before I go here's some mail. They came special delivery early this morning," Dumbledore said, handing them each a letter with the large, almost gaudy, Ministry seal.

* * *

"Our OWL scores," Hermione said nervously. 

"You did fine, Mione. I'm the one who has to worry about getting into Potions to become an Auror," Harry said.

"Well come on then, they won't open themselves you know," Ron said, starting to break the seal.

"I should be going," Dumbledore said, his eyes and the stars on his robes back to full twinkle.

"Wait, Professor, please stay," Harry said, slowly unsealing his letter and pulling it from the envelope. He began to read it aloud.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_Congratulations on surviving one of the toughest OWL sessions in recent (and not so recent) memory, and on tying for first rank amongst all Hogwarts students of your year. Here are your results:_

_Ancient Runes: N/A_

_Arithmancy: N/A_

_Astronomy: 75-Acceptable-1 OWL_

_Care of Magical Creatures: 100-Outstanding-1 OWL_

_Charms: 93-Outstanding-1 OWL_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts: 150-Double Outstanding-2 OWL's_

_Divination: 70-Acceptable-1 OWL_

_Herbology: 95-Outstanding-1 OWL_

_History of Magic: 70-Acceptable-1 OWL_

_Muggle Studies: N/A_

_Potions: 90-Outstanding-1 OWL_

_Transfiguration: 98-Outstanding-1 OWL_

_RESULTS: 10 OWL's (out of 12 possible) Includes extra OWL for Highest DADA score in 50 years._

_Congratulations you have the necessary OWL's to pursue a career as an Auror. You must have five OWL courses. We recommend the following: Potions, Charms, DADA, and Transfiguration plus one Elective. The course selection sheet will be sent out in two weeks time._

_Respectfully,_

_Griselda Marchbanks_

_Head Wizarding Examiner_

_Ministry of Magic_

"Oh Harry, that's wonderful. We got the same number of OWL's, although you beat me in DADA again," Hermione said, throwing her arms around Harry's neck and kissing him briefly.

"How did you do, Ron?" Harry asked.

"Ten, the same as you. I can't believe I got a Double Outstanding in Care of Magical Creatures," Ron said.

"I got my Double Outstanding in Arithmancy," Hermione said.

"Wait. Mione, didn't you take the Ancient Runes exam? You should have 11 not 10," Harry said.

"I was taking it independently so no, Harry, I didn't sit the exam. We were halfway to the Ministry when it was being held," Hermione said, squeezing his hand.

"Well Miss Granger, as I said before there were some unusual circumstances during the exams. As such, any student who wishes is encouraged, especially this year, to retake certain exams they feel they could have performed better in. Also allowed is independent course work leading to additional OWL's being placed on your records. Ah here they are," Professor Dumbledore said, materializing three books which he had summoned from his office. These books will allow you three to write down whichever courses you wish to pursue OWL's in regardless of whether you finished the class or not. It may help to remove those zeros from your record, Miss Granger, the ones you are so ashamed of in Muggle Studies and Divination. If you proceed correctly, you could be the first three students with 13 OWL's that we've had for nearly a century," Dumbledore continued.

"That would be one more than Percy," Ron said.

"I would like to see what I learned in Ancient Runes, and we don't have any summer work for the year as we haven't picked our classes yet," Hermione said.

"Well it would give us something to do besides the plans we already made. Most of it shouldn't take too long since we would just need to improve most of our scores. Muggle Studies will be easy, we'll help you, Ron, and Hermione can teach us Arithmancy and Ancient Runes while we teach her Divination. Maybe we'll get to use our new found Seer powers," Harry said.

"Why not, we might get bored otherwise and then look out Hogwarts," Ron said.

Hermione couldn't believe that Ron just agreed to study, but smiled. "Watch out indeed. I think now with three projects for the last month of summer we won't be bored," Hermione added.

"So we just write down all the courses we either didn't get an OWL in we didn't get the grade we wanted in and we'll be able to study them and then take the OWL?" Harry asked Professor Dumbledore.

"Yes. The books will fill with a study guide for each subject and you have all the books you need in the library and in your own trunks. When you pass each of the year end tests, it will grade them automatically on the OWL scale, and when you achieve the grade you desire you'll pass to the next year of information. You may want to study each subject one at a time and get the OWL out of the way before moving on to the next subject," Dumbledore said smiling. So the Golden Trio were the top students of their year. He couldn't wait to see how they did on their projects.

"We'll need to make a schedule to get this and our other main project done by September 1," Hermione said.

"All right, but let's have breakfast first please," Ron said, his stomach rumbling loudly just at that moment.

"The bottomless stomach has spoken," Harry said.

"On that note I'll leave you, but would you three mind company for breakfast? I hope not as Remus and Sirius are very eager to spend some time with you," Dumbledore said.

"You're welcome to join us, Professor," Harry said, happy that his godfather and Remus were there to talk to. He had a million questions for them.

"Maybe at another meal. I have some business to attend to. Oh and Ron, Luna, Neville, and Ginny are more than welcome to stay here for the week before school begins, I know you sent them a letter. Rooms can easily be added to your haven for your friends," Dumbledore said. He smiled at the trio once more, seemingly twinkling louder than ever before, and then walked back to the portrait of a phoenix in the corner that led to his office.

* * *

"Well that was interesting," Ron said. 

"Now we know where the last door leads to anyway," Harry said.

"Come on you two let's feed the monster and then get to work on one of our projects, we have less than a month," Hermione said.

"Let's not keep Remus and Sirius waiting too long. They're probably telling mum and dad all sorts of stories about us," Harry said.

"We were not," Sirius said as they entered the dining area which had been warded off from where they had been conversing with the Headmaster.

"Were too, Padfoot, and you cut off a very interesting story. Something about a 12-foot mountain troll," James said.

"How are you Harry?" Remus asked.

"I'm fine. How are you? The last full moon doesn't seem like it was as hard on you," Harry noticed. For once the older man's face didn't seem so drawn and his robes weren't as shabby as they had been after previous transformations.

"I had Padfoot to keep me company this time," Remus said, a faint smile on his face.

"Moony is sharing Grimmauld Place with me and I had a room prepared for the full moon. It's much easier on him than the shrieking shack," Sirius said.

"So I hear from Prongs here that you three are taking over the Marauders," Remus said.

"We might as well with as much trouble as these two drag me into anyway. If this hurts my chance for Head Girl next year though you'll both hear about it for the rest of our lives," Hermione said.

"Down lioness. My dad still made Head Boy and you are a shoo-in especially with your grades. No one will be able to beat you once we have 13 OWL's," Harry said.

"13," Remus and Sirius said in unison.

"I think you two have spent too much time together. You even sound alike now," Harry said with a laugh.

"Well we're both your godfathers now. It takes both of us to watch out for you, knowing all the trouble a true Marauder can get into," Sirius said.

"You . . . You're both . . . " Harry said, trying to speak.

"Look, Moony, he's speechless," Sirius said with a barking laugh.

"Well, Sirius named me godfather in his will and when he came back he didn't have the heart to take the title away. So we're both living in Grimmauld place and fixing it up for you to come home to. You and your friends of course. We've heard that you three are best kept together," Remus said.

"Home," Harry said, thinking of all that word meant to him. "I'll have a home outside of Hogwarts," he whispered softly. Remus's eyes filled with tears as his enhanced wolf hearing allowed him to hear his godson clearly, including the emotion present in his voice.

"Yes you'll have a home," Remus said just as softly, reaching out to pull Harry gently into a hug.

Harry accepted, almost desperate for the contact from one of the few people he trusted. "Thank you both," Harry said, wiping tears from his eyes. A long-held dream of Harry's was coming true. He had a family and Hermione loved him. Before he could get too lost in his thoughts Harry's stomach gave a rumble and he pulled away from Remus. "Maybe we should eat," Harry said.

* * *

"Of course," Remus said, sitting at a place to Harry's right. Harry sat at the head of the table and pulled Hermione into the seat to his left. Sirius found a place next to Remus and Ron nearly threw himself into the seat next to Hermione. Harry noticed that the utensils were a duller stainless steel since Remus had joined them. Usually they were gold-plated sterling silver which of course would have been deadly for the werewolf. They all ordered their meals and started to eat in silence. 

"Professor Lupin?" Harry asked nervously a few minutes later.

"Call me Remus," Lupin said.

"But if you're going to be our teacher again I'll have to get into the habit so I don't call you by your first name during class," Harry said with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

"How? Oh never mind I know how. James, you could never keep a secret. What did you want to ask Harry?" Remus asked.

"Well, we um . . . have access to the Restricted section of the library for the summer and Dumbledore told us that Wolfsbane is in the book Moste Potente Potions, and I was wondering how we would know it was made properly, without testing it on you. We wanted to make a few batches in case Sn...Professor Snape decided not to or wasn't able to for some reason," Harry said.

"Harry, the ingredients are dangerous and hard to come by. But I appreciate your concern. I have some stored at Grimmauld. It's enough to last for two months and Severus can make another batch in that time," Remus said.

"We know where to get the ingredients, and what if Snape is called by Voldemort and can't escape. We'll lose the only useful DADA teacher we've had so far," Harry persisted.

"How will you get the ingredients? I've thought of Snape being called and I guess I would have to face the risk and brew it myself," Remus said.

"But you can't come in contact with the Wolfsbane in its raw form, it will kill you nearly as quickly as silver," Hermione said.

"There's a catalogue you can use through owl order that has a section for the apothecary. I've set up an account and can have the ingredients sent here. I just want to be sure it isn't poison before I give it to you," Harry said.

Sirius looked at Harry in surprise. He couldn't believe how much his godson seemed grown up. But then there were the scenes like the one a few minutes ago where he seemed like a lost little boy. Remus finished his last sausage and took a sip of tea to clear his throat. "There is one test for wolfsbane. You take one hair from a werewolf and test the potion on it. If the hair burns, then it is wolfsbane poison. If the hair grows then it is the correct strength for the potion. I will give you some of my hair before I leave," Remus said.

"Don't worry I'll have Hermione help. She's better at the more dangerous potions," Harry said.

"Nonsense, Harry, you'll be fine. We'll each brew a batch, it will be a good test of our skills since it's well past NEWT level," Hermione said, thinking about their revision work. "I wonder if the books Dumbledore gave us would allow us to continue our studies in the subjects we aren't taking through to NEWT level, once we get the rest of our O's on the OWL's that is. We could take the other seven subjects and work through sixth year work this year and maybe even part of seventh year and then take the NEWT's for those as well," Hermione said.

"Well if it works for our OWL's I don't see why not," Harry answered, and Ron nodded his agreement.

"So that's how you are getting top marks on OWL's," Sirius said.

"But how are you getting thirteen when there are only twelve subjects?" Remus asked.

"We each got a Double Outstanding in a different subject. Mine was in Care of Magical Creatures, Hermione's was in Arithmancy, and Harry's of course was in DADA," Ron said.

"Well, I may not have to teach much in that case, Harry. Maybe you can show me some of the things you taught the DA last year. Are you continuing the club this year?" Remus asked.

"I don't know. I did it last year mostly because I didn't have quidditch anymore, thanks to Umbridge. Now you're back, so I'm not sure," Harry said, scowling at the memory of last year's wicked witch. Hermione and Ron shared similar scowls.

"Well, we should let you three get studying then, we'll just pop upstairs and have a chat with the Headmaster," Sirius said, grinning broadly. None of them had suspected that he would also be teaching here this year.

"Bye Remus, Bye Sirius," Hermione and Ron said.

"Thank you both," Harry said, his voice back to a small whisper. Both men reached out to hug Harry who lost control of his emotions and cried. Hermione took one look at the scenario and wrapped her arms around Harry to help him regain his emotions.

"You are welcome Harry," Remus and Sirius said as they opened the portrait door to Dumbledore's office.

* * *

"Well now what should we study first," Hermione said, eager to get started. 

"How about Divination, get it out of the way first thing," Harry said.

"And then History of Magic," Ron added.

"Come on boys," Hermione said, turning to the study area.


	9. Books Books Books

**Disclaimer**: Really I don't own Harry Potter. All I own is my car (well the part I've paid for so far, the rest is owned by the lovely bank people). If I were J. K. Rowling I would be busy getting ready for the release of book 6 not writing fanfiction.

* * *

**A/N**: I'm back. I apologize for my muse. She felt that an extended vacation was in order and forgot to leave me with directions as to where to go with the story. So I've been floundering by myself. But she's back now. Even better, she has an extra personality so next time one of them wants a vacation the other one may be able to stick around to help out. Next chapter will have more action.

* * *

"Actually I was thinking. Since we only have three days left this week, not counting the weekend, maybe we should start with the elective classes. We only have three years to review in each class that way so we should be able to finish one class each day. I'll start today with teaching you Arithmancy and then we can deal with Divination and Ancient Runes tomorrow and Friday," Hermione said, opening her book eagerly ready to start one of her favourite hobbies.

"You know, that isn't a bad plan," Ron said, opening his book, with less enthusiasm than his friends.

"So let's make our list in order of how we want to study, something like this: Arithmancy, Divination, Ancient Runes, History of Magic, Astronomy, and Muggle Studies. We'll have something a little easier to work on at the end of the summer if we do things in this order. This weekend we can start either Remus's potion, he left some hair for us in the box on the mantle, or the Animagus potion," Harry said, also opening his book, ready to give his whole attention to the study session.

"I agree," Ron said, dipping his quill into the inkwell that was sitting in the middle of the table for all three of them to use.

"That sounds reasonable. Here, I'll go get my Arithmancy books in a moment, but let's write our list," Hermione said. Shequickly wrotethe five subjects that she wanted to revise and waited for the book to fill with study guides. Smiling, she closed her book for now and went to get the books from her trunk.

"You know you could just summon them right, Mione?" Harry asked smiling.

"Accio Arithmancy books," Hermione responded. After a few moments there was a flutter of pages as the books flew down the girl's staircase and landed on the table with a solid thump.

"Wow. It worked. There are five pages of things to review for the third year," Ron said.

"Yeah and eight pages each for the fourth and fifth year," Harry said, starting to read some of the things he would learn about Arithmancy. "This sounds like the unit we did in Divination on numerology," Harry said.

"It would, since numerology is basically what Arithmancy is. But unlike Divination you don't just use it to find out what sort of person someone is by their numbers. You can find out how strong a spell is, even how strong a wizard or witch someone is just by figuring out the equations," Hermione said. She opened her third year text and made two copies of it quickly, placing a copy in front of each of the boys. "These will only last for today, but we'll be done with the work before then so it's okay," Hermione said.

Harry and Ron worked steadily for the next two hours only asking occasional advice from Hermione who passed the time reading a book on advanced Arithmancy that she had bought at the end of last year just because it looked interesting.

"Here goes nothing," Harry said.

"Are you ready to take the third year test?" Ron asked Harry.

"Yeah, are you ready?" Harry asked.

"Almost, just give me five more minutes and we'll start at the same time," Ron said.

Harry nodded and reread the last section of the textbook again to be sure he remembered the last equation since it was slightly more complicated. At Ron's nod both boys turned to the test and put the book copies face down next to Hermione so they couldn't cheat. This was acknowledged with a smile from Hermione who couldn't believe how serious they both were being about studying. 'I guess when we all swear to do something there really is some sort of power behind it,' Hermione thought to herself, turning the page of her book. As she looked up, she noticed that Remus and Sirius had returned from the headmaster's office but were just sitting in the lounge area, not wanting to disturb the study session. Hermione marked her place in the book and walked over to Harry's guardians. "They're taking the third year Arithmancy test. From what I heard while they were studying I think they'll do well. Then they can take a break before they move on to fourth year," Hermione said.

"You three don't do anything by half do you?" Remus asked.

"When we all put our heads together to do something none of us back down. Its one of the things we're known for. As a team we can do anything if we want it to happen badly enough," Hermione said.

"I can see that. I'll keep Padfoot quiet so we won't disturb you. Actually, why don't I put up a ward? We can have a chat with Prongs and Lily and they can finish. We'll come and retrieve you for lunch in a couple of hours, let them start on fourth year," Remus said.

"That would be wonderful. If we can get that much done then we can do some more exploring today, or start planning one of our other projects," Hermione said. "Thanks, Remus, you too, Sirius. Have a good conversation with James and Lily," Hermione added before retreating back to where the boys were sitting staring at the book in front of them.

"Are you finished already?" she asked them.

"Yes, we just finished a few minutes ago. We're just waiting for our score," Harry said.

"I think I did well, but we can't move on until we get an O, then we know that we can get an O on our OWL as well," Ron said.

"Here we go," Hermione said, noticing a change in the ink as it started forming the score. She looked at Ron's first and smiled. "Well here's our first O," she said. Then looking over at Harry's book her smile grew even more. "Good work, love. I knew you could do it," Hermione said.

"What were you talking to Remus and Sirius about?" Ron asked, relieved to have managed an O.

"They set up a ward so that they could talk to James and Lily without disturbing us. Lunch will be in a couple of hours as its only 10:00 a.m. right now so you can work on part of fourth year before we eat, maybe even the whole thing," Hermione said.

"Works for me," Harry said, waiving his wand over the copies of the books to end the spell as they didn't need them anymore. At the same time Hermione made copies of the fourth year book and her notes and gave them to Harry and Ron. "Good luck boys," she said, kissing Harry's cheek and giving Ron a brief hug before returning to her book.

When the call for lunch came, Harry and Ron were surprised that they had finished the fourth year work and were already nearly done with fifth year, meaning that they could take the OWL after they ate. "Well here we are, one chance to add an OWL to our record," Harry said, taking out his letter from the Wizarding Examiner so he could see the moment the new OWL was added.

"Let's eat first," Ron said, rubbing his hand which was cramping from writing so much.

"Limpio," Hermione said helpfully waiving her wand over both boys to clean the ink smudges from their hands and one from Ron's nose. Then she noticed the state of both boys' quills. "You used sugar quills to take a test?"

"It was the first thing I found in my trunk," Harry said, laughing as both quills had nearly the entire feather part missing from where they sucked the quills during an especially tough question.

"We have to use the anti-cheat quill for the OWL anyway so its fine, and we have a whole bag of sugar quills. At least this way we're still working and not staring off into space when we can't figure out a question," Ron pointed out.

"True, it was just funny that's all. Actually I have to admit that sugar quills are one thing I miss when I go home in the summer. My parents think that all sweets are bad even if they are disguised as a writing utensil," Hermione said.

"Well here, I know you aren't doing any writing today, but you might as well join us in the sugar high we'll be on later. We have chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts also, but I'm quite sure if I eat a boogie flavoured bean during the OWL that my concentration will be completely gone," Harry said, handing Hermione a sugar quill.

"Well I do have a couple of letters to write so I'll be able to use this for more than just something to snack on later, and I agree, save the disgusting Every Flavour Bean competition for later tonight after the testis done, I'll even join in. I haven't eaten a grass flavoured one in awhile," Hermione said, putting the sugar quill on top of her book.

"Let's go have lunch," Ron said.

"Again we're lead by Ron's stomach," Harry said, walking over to the other side of the room.

"Hey there you are. I thought you had disappeared to search for more secret passages," James said.

"Hey dad, we were actually taking our Arithmancy OWL, or preparing for it anyway. We finished fourth and fifth year so we'll be taking the OWL after we eat. Can you two wait to see what score we get?" Harry said, directing his question at Sirius and Remus.

"Sure kiddo. Moony and I don't have anything else to do besides finishing the redecoration project at Grimmauld Place. We decorated your room already Harry, but you'll have to wait until Christmas to see it. Hermione, Ron, what would you like in your rooms?" Sirius asked.

Harry was overwhelmed. He knew that he would have a home with Sirius and Remus but he wasn't expecting a room to himself. "I thought I would just share the room with Ron like usual. I didn't think you'd spend the time on a room just for me," Harry said.

"Of course we would pup, you're ours now and you deserve to have a lot more than just a room to yourself," Sirius said.

"He's right cub. It was the least we could do," Remus added.

"What did you just call me?" Harry asked.

"I called you pup, since I consider you my son and my Animagus form is a dog. Padfoot has always been protective of you ever since the day you were born," Sirius said.

"And Moony considers you a cub. I called you cub ever since the first time I saw you, which was about four hours after you were born," Remus said.

"Thank you," Harry said softly, knowing his guardian's canine ears would pick up what he said.

"You're welcome," Remus and Sirius both answered.

"Now, for our long term guests, Hermione what colours do you prefer or should we decorate your room like we did Harry's and then if you don't like it we can change it?" Sirius asked.

"A surprise would be fine. I'm guessing that you're decorating with magic so if I don't like it then it wouldn't be that difficult to change things," Hermione answered after she ordered her lunch.

"Exactly. Ron, Harry tells me you're into the Cannons and that your room at the Burrow is bright orange. Would you like a copy at Grimmauld?" Sirius asked.

"That would be great, maybe with a couple of posters of keepers," Ron said.

"Great, now let's eat so you can get back to studying. We'll be here all day, if you three don't mind anyway, so after you take the OWL we can tell stories. I think there are a few things that Harry hasn't told us about the trio's adventures," Sirius said, taking a sip of butterbeer.

"Only if you tell Marauder stories. After all we have two living Marauders and a portrait to hear from," Harry said.

Lunch was finished before long and Harry and Ron went back to quickly revise the fifth year work they had done before starting the OWL. "Well I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Ron said. Harry nodded his agreement and the two picked up their books and letters as well as the anti-cheat quill. Then they separated to opposite ends of the table, leaving Hermione sitting in the middle happily sucking on her sugar quill as she tried to write a letter home to her mum and dad.

The book closed itself two hours later to signal the end of the OWL and both Ron and Harry dropped the quill and took a deep breath. Now all they had to do was watch the letter to see the OWL added to the page as the book had told them it would be.

"I hate waiting like this," Harry said, as they rejoined Remus and Sirius in front of the fireplace. Ron stared at his letter waiting for the change and Harry glanced over every few moments. Nearly 30 minutes later the ink in the score section of the letter glowed a light blue and a score replaced the previous mark of N/A next to Arithmancy. Harry and Ron looked at their own letter and then at the other's letter and let out a nervous breath. "Mione, we did it. We now have 11 OWLS.

"Did you get O's?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, a 95 even," Harry said.

"I only got a 90, but it's still an O," Ron said.

"Tomorrow we'll need to hurry up and work on Divination. I can't let you boys get too many OWLS ahead," Hermione said with a smile on her face. She finished the rest of her sugar quill as she signed the letter and put it on the table for Hedwig or Pig to take to her family tomorrow. Probably Hedwig, she thought, since Pig was a little too hyperactive to deliver to Muggles who weren't used to owl post even after five years.

"Well now, who's going to start the stories?" Remus asked, giving Harry a quick hug. Sirius also hugged Harry whose face was turning a bit red from the attention.

"I think you three should start," Sirius said.


	10. Fireside Chats

**Disclaimer**: Really I don't own Harry Potter. All I own is my car (well the part I've paid for so far, the rest is owned by the lovely bank people). If I were J. K. Rowling I would be busy getting ready for the release of book 6 not writing fanfiction.

* * *

**A/N**: Okay so maybe I was mistaken that there was more action in chapter 10, but hey here's 2 chapters in one day. I'm nearly done with Chapter 11 but I'd like to get a few reviews on these chapters first before I post it. The trio should be back in school by chapter 13 at the earliest, chapter 15 at the latest (it's going to be a long story) I just want to have a few more things happen during summer first.

* * *

The trio sat and told stories of their first five years. They had a captive audience in Remus and Sirius, not to mention the portrait of Lily and James. None of them had heard much about the adventures that had been happening since first year.

"So let me get this straight. First year was an obstacle course to get to the philosopher's stone before Voldemort, who was on the back of the DADA professor's head, could get it?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, but Dumbledore had put the stone in the mirror, so Voldemort couldn't get it because he wanted to use it and you had to want the stone but not to use it for the mirror to work. I'm quite sure that's why he told me what the mirror did, so I could save the stone," Harry interrupted.

"Then in second year Hermione figured out what was petrifying the students but was petrified herself before she could tell anyone. And you and Ron went into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny and ended up watching Lockhart memory charm himself?" Remus asked.

"That was the best part of the whole thing. My wand was busted and he was trying to memory charm Harry and me so he could take credit for rescuing Ginny. It's how he wrote all his books. The charm backfired and he was left even more of an idiot than he was to start with," Ron said.

"The only reason we knew that the creature was a basilisk is that Hermione had a piece of paper in her hand from a library book about basilisks. All the clues pointed to it we just needed Hermione to put it together. She also managed to scribble down that it was travelling in the pipes. That's why I was hearing it through the walls. If I hadn't found out I was a parselmouth, I wouldn't have been able to get into the chamber in the first place. And if Fawkes hadn't brought the sorting hat with the sword of Gryffindor then I would be dead from the basilisk venom," Harry said.

"Third year was the first time that Hermione broke any laws. She had the time turner, as you know. Only she didn't tell us for the whole year. The only way we found out was when she and Harry saved Sirius and Buckbeak," Ron said.

"Fourth year, as you probably know, I would rather forget. We'll just leave it at a giant maze I still see in my nightmares as it blurs into the graveyard. Fifth year is pretty much on the same level. Dreams of eerie blue light and locked doors. Umbridge was breathing down my neck. Then I nearly lost everything in the Department of Mysteries because I fell for Voldemort's lies. I'm so sorry Sirius," Harry said, barely keeping the tears back.

Remus and Sirius knew they had to lighten the mood, so with the help of James and Lily they told Marauder stories for the rest of the night. When the clock hit 11:00 p.m. they stood up to leave. "Well, we have to be going, but we'll be back probably this weekend sometime. Is there anything you need from Hogsmeade or even Diagon Alley since you can't leave to get it yourselves? If you give us your key, Harry, we can get money from your vault for you, that way you'll have it for the year. We'll ask Dumbledore if we can take you into Hogsmeade at all before term starts," Sirius said.

Harry fished his Gringott's key from his pocket and handed it to Sirius. "Could you see if Madam Malkin would make my robes if I owled her the measurements. The old ones are too short. Oh and robes for Ron and Hermione as well. Dress robes for Hermione and I, Ron has a new set from the twins that he hasn't worn yet, unless they're too short already," Harry said.

"There's a book on Ancient Runes I was looking at in the catalogue but it can't be delivered without paying a lot more for it. I also need this changed to Galleons if you wouldn't mind," Hermione said, pulling out three twenty pound bills.

"Maybe some more sweets from Honeydukes, unless you can bring us to Hogsmeade some weekend, oh and I need a new cauldron. My old one has a rusty spot and Snape will find a reason to take off points and make a joke in class unless I replace it. I can owl mum for the money," Ron said.

"Alright, so that's three sets of school robes, two dress robes, one Ancient Runes book, withdraw money from Harry's vault and change Hermione's money, a cauldron, and a stash of chocolate frogs; sugar quills; and Every Flavour Beans, don't worry about the money I have so much the goblins want me to open another vault and my family already has 6. I don't need that hassle thank you very much. Remus can you conjure a measuring tape? We'll get the measurements and then Hermione can write down the name of the book for us and we'll be on our way," Sirius said.

No more than twenty minutes later, Remus and Sirius were opening the portrait of James and Lily and exiting the Marauder's Lair promising to be back during the weekend with gifts for the kids.

"Now do you still feel like finding all the odd flavoured beans and watching the fire burn down?" Hermione asked her boys.

"Sure, who wants to start?" Ron asked, opening a fresh box of Bertie Botts.

"I will," Harry said, taking a somewhat safe red bean. "Gross, liver," he said, swallowing the half-chewed bean.

"Eww," Hermione said. "I'm not sure what it was actually. It was a mix of tripe and lint, I think it was a new flavour," she said.

Ron grabbed a bright orange bean and started to chew. Then he stopped suddenly, nearly choking on the bean. "Gah, they do mean every flavour, this one was dirty sock," he said.

"I think that's enough of that game," Harry said, disgusted. "What do you think Dumbledore has planned for us? You know he's planning something for this year. I'm not sure I like the sound of that," he said.

"Me either, but it's Dumbledore. He wouldn't do anything to endanger his students," Hermione said.

"Do you remember our first year, Mione? He was the one who set it up so that we would go after the stone. If he hadn't shown up when he did I could have easily been killed," Harry said.

"Okay, but I don't think he would do that again, Harry," Hermione said.

"I hope you're right," Ron said, a bit uneasy as he walked back to his room, deciding to go to sleep.

Harry and Hermione walked to their room as well still deep in thought. Harry closed the door and they settled on the bed. "The last time he was so mysterious was near the end of last year, right before he finally told me the. . ." Harry said, breaking off when he realized he was going to say something about the prophecy and that Hermione still didn't know anything about it.

"The what, Harry? Please tell me. You know I'll do anything to help you," Hermione said, turning to face him as her fingers combed through his messy hair. One finger came to rest on his scar.

"No fair, Mione, using our connection to figure out something I don't know how to tell you or even if I can tell you yet," Harry said sighing.

Hermione's eyes filled with tears. "Too late, Harry, I heard Dumbledore tell you the prophecy. Then he said there was more. I'm not sure about the last part of what I heard though," Hermione said.

"What did you say?" Harry asked her.

"That there's more to the prophecy," she answered, grasping his hand. "It has to do with us," Hermione said, sensing part of what Dumbledore wanted to tell them.

Harry leaned into her and covered her hand that still touched his scar with his own. Then he too heard Dumbledore's words. "Mione, we're telepaths," Harry said, trembling slightly from the strain.

"I know Harry," Hermione said.

"I wonder if we can hear each other's thoughts or just sense others?" Harry asked.

"Come here, let me try something," Hermione said. She pulled him down and brushed her lips against his scar. All at once Harry was hit with waves of emotions, both his and Hermione's. His hands moved to circle her comfortably in his arms and he decided to test their telepathy by silently praying that she wouldn't move her lips from his skin. After a few moments though, Harry broke contact and moved his lips to hers in a much more needy, passionate kiss than either of the kisses they had shared before. His hands moved down her back slowly until they spanned her narrow waist. Then he sensed rather than heard Hermione's reaction.

"Hermione Jane Granger! I never thought I would hear you say something like that," Harry said aloud.

"Well it worked," Hermione said, without moving from her present position. She was comfortably tangled in Harry's arms and being held tight against his chest. 'I'm in heaven,' she thought, a blush coming to her cheeks thinking of what she'd like to do with Harry.

'Same here,' Harry replied silently, adding his own impure thoughts.

"Harry James Potter, really now. Don't you think that would be moving a little fast since we only had our first real kiss tonight?" Hermione said, a smile lighting up her face as she lightly kissed him.

"Sorry, Mione, you'll have to learn to live with my stray thoughts. They aren't always pretty, or appropriate," Harry said, in a whisper, between kisses. He blushed as he thought about how he accidentally let Hermione know how much he would love to see her in her underwear.

"It's okay, now that you mention it, I am curious to see what you sleep in at night when you don't fall asleep fully dressed," Hermione said.

"My boxers," Harry whispered, his blush deepening.

Hermione was silent for a moment, deep in thought. "We should go to the library and find a book on empathy and telepathy so we know what to expect," she said.

"Alright, let's go see what we can do with this connection of ours. It's better than lying here waiting for the next nightmare," Harry said.

"Oh Harry. Maybe they won't be so bad when we can help each other sleep," Hermione said, tears in her eyes.

"I keep making you cry. What kind of boyfriend am I?" Harry asked.

"The best kind, Harry. I'm just upset that you're always so afraid lately. Everything keeps happening before you can deal with the last crisis," she said.

The walked back into the common room and over to the door to the library. Harry pushed open the door and pulled Hermione inside. "Okay my little genius, what are we looking for exactly?" Harry asked, a rare smile on his face.

"Not Quidditch Through the Ages," Hermione said with a laugh, pulling him away from the sports section. She walked toward the restricted section and Harry gallantly unlocked the door with a quick Alohomora, without his wand.

"Harry! You didn't use your wand," Hermione said, knowing that he was capable of wandless magic, but not wanting to tell him that she knew since Dumbledore didn't want him to know just yet. Hermione hoped he didn't pick up on those thoughts and pushed them out of her mind to prevent him from catching even a hint.

"I . . . wow, I'll have to ask Dumbledore tomorrow about that. You know it's almost easier without it," Harry said, surprised himself, but thinking already about how liberating not worrying about his wand during the upcoming battle could be.

Hermione ran her finger down the spine of an old book on telepathy. "Here we are," she said.

Harry had moved over to the shelf on Animagi and found what he was looking for. "Should we go, Mione?" Harry asked, taking the book from her hand and sliding his arm around her waist.

"Of course," she said.

They returned to their room and sat on Harry's bed to start learning about their bond. "Many empathy become telepathic. Some are even able to train their connection so that physical contact is not required to converse. A smaller number are able to include another person in the link, but it must be someone who is closely connected to the pair of telepaths already as it takes the power of both of the originally linked people to add the third person to the connection. In rare cases the telepathic power will expand to allow for hearing each other over long distances," Hermione said, reading aloud.

"So we might be able to add Ron to the connection. This will be useful during a battle, not to mention if one of us has trouble in Potions and we don't want Snape to know that we're helping each other," Harry said.

"I think adding Ron would be a good idea, although you know I don't approve of you two cheating in potions," Hermione said.

"It's not cheating, it's preventing a cauldron explosion that in the NEWT class would probably lead to a million point deduction and a whole term of detentions,"

"We'll ask Dumbledore to see if he knows anyone who can train us or suggest what we can study," Hermione said, yawning.

"Come on, Mione, time to sleep," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her. He leaned over and whispered, "Nox," turning out the light, again without a wand.

The next morning Harry woke up not shaking and sweating as he usually did. He felt something on his shoulder and looked down to see Hermione curled into his chest. His arms were wrapped around her and his chin rested gently on the top of her head. 'She's so beautiful,' Harry thought to himself. Then he realized that her cheek was laying against his bare chest. His white Oxford button-down shirt, part of his Hogwarts uniform, was unbuttoned. He didn't remember unbuttoning his shirt the night before. "Morning beautiful," Harry whispered in Hermione's ear.

"Morning," she answered, shifting from her sleeping position, her cheek rubbing gently over Harry's chest causing him to blush. Hermione smiled at his reaction. 'You looked uncomfortable last night so I tried to help. You did seem to sleep better once I unbuttoned your shirt,' she thought to Harry.

'Did I have another nightmare?' Harry thought.

'No, but you were tossing us around a bit after we laid down and I was afraid that one would start. I curled up right next to you and decided I wanted to see what you've gained from all the Quidditch,' Hermione thought to him.

'Like what you see?' Harry asked through their link.

'Oh yes, it was definitely worth it. One of these nights we'll actually have to get changed for bed you know,' Hermione thought.

"Shall we change clothes, wake Ron up, and go see Professor Dumbledore? That way we can get today's lesson out of the way before it's too late," Harry said, switching back to actually speaking.

"I guess, but let's go visit the giant squid before we start our Divination work, then we can see if Hagrid is back," Hermione said.

"Sounds good to me let's get going," Harry agreed.


	11. Lessons and Lists

**Disclaimer:** Really I don't own Harry Potter. All I own is my car (well the part I've paid for so far, the rest is owned by the lovely bank people). If I were J. K. Rowling I would be busy getting ready for the release of book 6 not writing fanfiction.

* * *

**AN:** Here's some more Trio summer. I'm trying to time cut but this was important to events later in the story and it was some interesting dialogue to write.

* * *

The conversation with Dumbledore was short. The Headmaster wanted to set up a time during the weekend for Harry's first Occlumency lesson. The trio headed outside to feed toast to the giant squid, and to find out that Hagrid wasn't back from his mission, presumably to talk to the giants again. "I do hope he has better luck this time. His face looked horrible last time he came back from the giant's camp," Hermione said.

"I just hope he wasn't slowed down by the injuries he got from the stupid Ministry officials in June. He was hit a few times when Umbridge tried to fire him," Harry said, ducking as the giant squid attempted to splash at him.

"We should probably go in and get Divination out of the way," Hermione said.

The rest of the day passed quickly with the trio studying intensely for their Divination OWL and waiting to see if Sirius and Remus would come by to chat. They wanted to hear from Sirius how he had gotten out of the veil, and more importantly how he had convinced Fudge to not immediately call for the Dementors and instead give him a trial. By the end of the day all three of them had earned O's on the Divination OWL and had begun to study for Ancient Runes which they would test on the next day.

Sirius and Remus didn't come by that night, but sent a letter with a handsome screech owl that they would be there by dinner time the next night to bring Harry, Hermione, and Ron the things they had asked for.

* * *

Friday passed much the same way as Thursday had and another OWL was added to their records. "Well now, only three more to go and the potions we wanted to brew. Maybe since we finished early we can start getting things together and read the instructions a few times, especially on the Wolfsbane. Are we just going to brew it here? I was thinking, if this is a room of requirement, we could just ask it for a room suitable for brewing potions," Harry said, thinking aloud. 

"Good idea, Harry, and I think we'll have time to start the brewing anyway before our company comes by. We still have 3 hours or so until dinner. Oh, and Ron, we want to try something one of these nights. Harry and I found out we're telepaths and there is a way to add someone else to the connection. We figured it would be useful in battle," Hermione said.

"And for other things, like Potions class," Ron said.

"What is it with you two and cheating in Potions?" Hermione said jokingly.

"It might save house points, since you know the answer all the time and he never calls on you unless he has to. Next time you can just let us see the answers through our link and we won't have to say 'I don't know Professor,' all the time," Ron said.

Just then three owls fluttered into the room and dropped letters in front of them. "Well, here's our lists and prefect badges," Hermione said, opening the seal and pulling a silver prefect badge and the letters from the envelope. "Let's see, normal notice about the Hogwarts Express. I'm thinking we won't be riding it this year. If the Death Eaters are going to attack that would be the most obvious place. Here's our prefect information. If we don't ride the train the other prefects will have even more work," Hermione said.

"Hey, here's the course selection list," Harry said.

The trio were so absorbed with looking at their lists that they didn't hear the portrait door open to let Sirius and Remus in.

"Students may enroll in no more than six classes at NEWT level. NO EXCEPTIONS will be made," Hermione read.

"No time turner this year," Ron said.

"I wouldn't do that anyway. Dumbledore would have to ask a favour from the Ministry and after last year I doubt that the Minister would be so willing," Hermione said.

"And if Umbridge somehow collected her wits after the centaurs got done scrambling them I am sure she would refuse the request and try to have you arrested for even asking to borrow a time turner in the first place," Harry said.

"Let's see what we should take," Ron said.

"Well, I'll be taking DADA, Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration to be able to be an Auror. That leaves two electives. Hey, there's a few new classes on the list," Harry said.

"It looks like we'll all have the same four main classes," Hermione said, looking at Ron's list and her own and noticing that they were identical to Harry's. "We've all chosen to be Aurors," she said.

"Should we continue in Care of Magical Creatures? I would rather not if Hagrid's not the teacher. Grubbly-Plank really isn't all that interesting," Harry said.

"Hey, they're offering Duelling, and look, Harry, it says that Sirius is the teacher," Ron said.

"What! Hey, why didn't he tell us he was going to be teaching here?" Harry said.

"Maybe because I wanted it to be a surprise, at least until you got your book lists anyway," Sirius said from his chair near the fire.

"Sirius, Remus, when did you get here?" Harry asked, noticing them sitting by the fire.

"Right after you got your letters. We were waiting for you to finish choosing your electives, or at least to notice the Duelling class anyway," Sirius said.

"We come bearing gifts, but first choose two classes so the letters can return to Professor McGonagall's office," Remus said.

"Oh, look they're offering Healing as well. That could be useful with the war and all," Hermione said.

"I agree. I'm picking Duelling and Healing. They're far more important than another two years of Trelawny telling me that she sees a Grim in my teacup," Harry said, checking the flashing boxes for Duelling and Healing and watching as the letter folded itself and disappeared in a puff of blue smoke. Ron and Hermione also checked Duelling and Healing and watched their letters disappear.

"You three will enjoy my class," Sirius said, unshrinking the parcels in his pockets and handing them to the trio. "Here you are. Oh, and here's a little something for you, Hermione, and one for Ron," Sirius said, handing each of them a money bag full of Galleons. "Here's yours, Harry, and your key," Sirius said.

"This is far too much," Hermione said, noticing that the pouch was full.

"Thank you, Sirius, but I shouldn't accept this. Mum wouldn't be happy," Ron said.

"Take it, both of you. Like I said, I'll never spend it all and neither will Remus, especially since I had to force him to get new robes as it was. It's the money the Ministry gave me for having mistakenly locked me in Azkaban for twelve years and then chasing me for another two," Sirius said.

"That reminds me. How did you get set free anyway, Sirius?" Hermione asked, putting her money bag with the book she had asked for and her new robes.

"Good question. I mean besides the obvious of how you got out of that veil thing, how did you ever convince Fudge to give you a trial?" Ron asked, also putting his money bag aside with his sweets and robe.

"Let's go eat dinner and I'll tell you what I can. It's a rather long story and there are parts of it that involve Order work, so I can't tell you the whole thing, but there are parts that everyone knows so that should be okay to tell you," Sirius said, gesturing to the table which was already set waiting for their orders.

* * *

As soon as they had ordered their food, Harry looked at Sirius, wanting to hear how he had gotten away and why Remus hadn't been surprised to see Sirius in Dumbledore's office. "So, the last thing I saw was Bellatrix blasting you through the veil and seeing you fall backwards. Everyone told me you were gone for good. I even tried the mirror you gave me but you didn't answer so I smashed it," Harry said. 

"Oh Harry. I heard you in the mirror. I just couldn't answer. For the first bit of time I couldn't move at all from where I had landed. It was as if all my muscles were frozen. Then all of a sudden something gave me a push towards the curtain that I could see in the distance and I could move again. I started walking towards the curtain, but there was something pulling me backwards. I knew somehow that I couldn't let it get me or I wouldn't be able to get back to you. I thought it had only taken me a few hours to get out but it actually took me about ten days. I was thrown out of the veil and smashed into the floor in front of the dais. I laid there for another day before some Unspeakable found me. He didn't recognize me, but I told him that I had fallen behind the veil and that it had thrown me out. I begged him to help me out of the Ministry because I needed to talk to Dumbledore and he let me out through one of the side exits. I made my way back to Grimmauld Place and scared everyone half to death when I just walked in. Dumbledore was actually speechless for a full minute," Sirius said.

"So how did you get a trial? You said they caught Wormtail, but he wasn't one of the Death Eaters caught at the Department of Mysteries was he?" Harry asked.

"Actually he was, the little rat was hiding in the prophecy room after you and Dumbledore beat Voldemort in the atrium. Kingsley found him there and took him to an Order safe house instead of letting him be sent to Azkaban with the rest. He figured they could use him to at least clear me posthumously. By the time they got around to questioning him I had reappeared. Snape actually made an extra strong dose of Veritaserum to use on him and Dumbledore hauled Fudge and Amelia Bones in to question Wormtail. I think Dumbledore intimidated Fudge into finding me innocent. He's on his way out as minister anyway," Sirius said.

"So were you at Grimmauld, Remus, when Sirius just showed up? Is that why you weren't surprised in Dumbledore's office when he transformed?" Hermione asked.

"No I wasn't at Grimmauld that day. I was off doing something for the Order. I didn't find out until about 15 minutes before you did, Hermione. That's one of the reasons I was crying. Part of it was worrying over Harry, but it was mostly happy tears that I had Padfoot back," Remus said.

* * *

"I don't know what I'm going to do if I lose you again. I'm scared of being alone after this war is through," Harry said, sharing a bit of the newest round of dreams that were plaguing him the last few nights, even with Hermione helping him to sleep. 

"Oh Harry, are you still having that same nightmare?" Hermione asked.

"What nightmare?" Sirius asked.

"Everyone dies one by one until I'm the only one left. It has to do with the...I don't know if I can tell you...Hermione only knows because we have a telepathic link. I guess Ron will find out when we add him to the link," Harry said, his thoughts scattering.

"What is it, pup?" Sirius asked, concern showing in his eyes.

"If you're worried about Voldemort finding out, we both know Occlumency. Please tell us, cub, it's tearing you apart," Remus said.

"It's the prophecy. The one that Voldemort was after...that you nearly died for, Sirius," Harry said.

"What about it?" Sirius said.

"Didn't it break when Neville dropped the little ball?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but I heard it anyway," Harry said.

"How? The room was far too noisy to hear anything properly," Ron said.

"Dumbledore was the one the prophecy was told to in the first place. He told me in his office after I thought I lost Sirius. This one little prophecy is the reason that Voldemort killed my parents and has been after me since I came back to the wizarding world," Harry said.

"What does it say?" Sirius said, his concern rising. Dumbledore had never said anything about a prophecy concerning Harry.

Harry took a deep breath and remembered the words of the prophecy. _"__The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...And the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be Born as the seventh month dies," _Harry said quietly.

"But that means...you have to kill him?" Ron said.

"I'm the only one who can defeat him, although I'm not so sure about the power the dark lord knows not," Harry said.

"Maybe that's why Dumbledore gave you Gryffindor's sword, Harry, after the third task you found out that you can't really use your wand against him all that well. Maybe you're meant to duel with swords, or at least surprise him with the sword anyway," Hermione said, thinking about Harry's growing wandless magic and his connection to the sword, being the heir of Gryffindor and all.

"We'll be here for you, Harry, as long as we can be," Sirius said.

"We could always have a portrait painted, in case we are killed then you could have us around like your parents," Remus said, tears in his eyes from hearing the hopelessness in Harry's voice. 'Why on earth hadn't Dumbledore told them about this before now?' Remus asked himself.

"It might just be Voldemort feeding me dreams again, although it doesn't feel the same as the dream about the Department of Mysteries did. I just keep seeing everyone die during the battle and you're all staring at me with your eyes wide open and you're not moving. I can even feel how cold the bodies are at the end of the dream and I wake up shaking and crying," Harry said.

Remus' tears fell faster as he listened to what Harry was forced to see every night. "I'll ask Severus for some Dreamless Sleep for you, cub. You need to rest before school starts and while you haven't mastered Occlumency.

"Do you think he'll make any for me? I'm not his favourite person, especially since he's stuck with me in Potions for two more years," Harry said.

"He will if he knows what is good for him. I'll be back in a moment, I'll go get the potion for you, Harry. We'll be back tomorrow to maybe play a quick game of Quidditch since you haven't flown in awhile," Remus said.

"That sounds great. We'll be brewing potions in the morning, but we have the afternoon free don't we, Mione? They have to simmer for a few hours anyway," Harry said.

"We should have some time to take a break," Hermione said, smiling as Harry's face lit up at the thought of flying again.


	12. Trouble Brewing

**Disclaimer:** Really I don't own Harry Potter. All I own is my car (well the part I've paid for so far, the rest is owned by the lovely bank people). If I were J. K. Rowling I would be busy getting ready for the release of book 6 not writing fanfiction.

* * *

**AN: **Keep in mind that we do not know what exactly is in either of these potions so my ingredients are just what I felt like I should put in. I'm not even sure if they would blow up if combined or not.

* * *

The next morning Harry felt much better after having taken the potion. He had the first nightmare free night's sleep in the last week. Due to that, or his excitement over getting to fly again, Harry was up first and decided to create their potion brewing room. It ended up nearly an exact replica of Snape's classroom. 

"Well that's disturbing," Ron said, coming into the room a half-hour later.

"I guess it depends on what you're thinking about when you ask for something. Maybe it will help us work better," Harry said.

"Look, we have our own copy of Moste Potente Potions in here. The room really does give you everything," Hermione said.

"And it looks like we have a fully stocked potion storeroom, well almost. We'll still need our wolfsbane. There aren't any of the tougher to get ingredients in here," Harry added, taking out the things they would need.

"Shall I write the directions on the blackboard?" Hermione asked.

"You might as well, we're used to working from that rather than our books," Ron said, setting up the cauldron that Remus and Sirius had gotten for him on their shopping trip. "I wonder why the room didn't give us cauldrons?" Ron said.

"Who knows? I'm surprised it worked at all. So how many pages are the directions, Mione?" Harry asked.

"Eight. I'll write them on the board one page at a time," Hermione said, pointing her wand at the book. "Duplicato," she said, and then pointed the wand to the blackboard, where she said, "Transcribo," causing the text to transfer to the board.

"Wow, no wonder this is considered a complicated potion, at least in terms of long wordy directions anyway. There are only four ingredients. Wait, according to these directions the potion will be mixed all the way in the next ten minutes it only has to simmer for theday. We can start on the Animagi potion, if I can get the room to give us some extra cauldrons anyway," Harry said, as he spoke three extra cauldrons set themselves up at the other counter in the room. "Oops, I guess I should have asked before," Harry said.

After chopping the moonflower, shredding the boomslang skin (which brought back fond memories of the Polyjuice potion), powdering the wolfsbane, cubing the mandrake, stirring precisely 232 times counterclockwise, adding four cups cold water at exactly one cup every five minutes, and then stirring exactly 112 times clockwise, the potion was a murky brown mess of bubbling slime. "Well, it looks like the mess that Remus has to drink every month," Harry said.

"It smells like it too," Ron said.

"Do we have to wait until it's set before we test if it's poison or not?" Harry asked.

"No, bring the hair here and we'll test it," Hermione said. She dipped one hair in each cauldron and it grew stronger and about an inch longer. "We did it," Hermione said.

"I think my arm is going to fall off from stirring. The animagus potion doesn't require nearly as much. It's mostly adding ingredients," Harry said, using the spells that Hermione had used to copy the directions (only one page this time) to the board. An hour later they were finished with the potion.

"Hey Hermione, is there anything in either potion that would react badly if they were mixed together?" Harry asked.

"I don't believe so, why?" Hermione asked.

"I wondered what would happen if you mixed animagus potion and wolfsbane that's all...maybe it would make the transformation even more bearable for Remus," Harry said.

"Let's try it," Ron said.

"Let's move over there first though, so we don't ruin our other potions if it does happen to explode. I'm not sure about the mandrake and moonflower and how they'll react with the unicorn horn and shrivelfig combination," Hermione said.

"Here goes nothing," Harry said, pouring the brownish glop of the wolfsbane into a flask and then filling another flask full of swirling blue animagus potion. Ron grabbed a medium sized bowl and Hermione grabbed a notebook to write down what they were doing. Harry first poured the wolfsbane into the bowl and then slowly poured the animagus potion over the top. "I think they need to be stirred," Harry said, noticing how the blue potion sat on the surface of the wolfsbane.

"Wait, there's some silver-green smoke starting to rise up here," Ron said.

All of a sudden there was a bang and the trio ducked to avoid flying potion, a trick they had become good at during five years of sharing Potions with Neville Longbottom. "Well at least it's our own lab and not Snape's," Ron said.

* * *

"It didn't explode, it imploded and it actually mixed together," Hermione said, staring into the bowl where there was now a thick green goo with silver steam swirling from the surface. "I wonder how it reacts to werewolf hair," Hermione said, grabbing a few strands of Remus's hair and dipping them in the potion. The hair didn't shrivel up or grow, but they turned from grey to a chestnut brown. 

"What is this then, a hair-dye potion?" Ron asked.

"No Ron. I think it did what Harry intended. It would make Remus's transformation easier," Hermione said. She grabbed a vial of werewolf blood and spooned out a bit of the new potion.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

"See how there's silver in this werewolf blood?" she asked.

"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

"Honestly. The silver streaks are the infection. They are what cause lycanthropy. I want to see what happens to them with our new potion," Hermione said. She stirred a drop of the potion into the blood and they all waited as silver steam billowed from the mixture. When they looked a few minutes later there were only five silver streaks instead of ten.

"Hermione, half of the infection is gone," Harry said.

"We have to show someone, Harry," Hermione said.

"Won't they ask how we got the ingredients for either of these potions? They're both technically illegal. I don't think even curing lycanthropy would get us off on that charge," Harry said.

"What was that, Harry?" came Remus' voice from the doorway.

"Remus, we made your wolfsbane. It will be ready for you tomorrow when you need totake it. Come here and see this though," Hermione said.

"What have you been up to in here?" Remus asked, wrinkling his oversensitive nose at the strong wolfsbane smell.

"We, well Harry, got bored or curious and decided to mix the wolfsbane potion with the animagus potion we worked on next and it came out rather interestingly. So I added a hair you gave us and instead of growing it turned from grey to brown again. Then I tested the new potion with werewolf blood and it eliminated half the silver streaks from the blood sample with only one drop, although I think it would take more in your case," Hermione said.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, wanting to be sure of what they were saying.

"I think...we may have at least partially cured lycanthropy," Hermione said.

"I was thinking that adding the animagus potion would make your transformation closer to Sirius' so you might have to change with the moon but you won't hurt yourself anymore, but the potion actually takes away some of the infection so maybe more of it would take out all the infection. Would you be willing to try it tomorrow? It has the wolfsbane mixed in, and you'll have Padfoot in case something goes wrong. He can tell us what happens when you transform," Harry said.

Remus gave Harry a hug and smiled. "I would be happy to be your test werewolf. I can smell the wolfsbane from out in the living room so I know it's correct and your animagus potion smells correct also, if not just a little strong. Be careful taking it you'll probably change right away with that much shrivelfig," Remus said. "You know, the mixture of the two potions actually doesn't smell half bad," Remus added.

* * *

"Should we go play Quidditch now?" Harry asked. 

"Sirius is already out at the pitch waiting for us," Remus said.

"Let's go then. Are you coming to watch, Mione?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Hermione answered.

The trio along with Sirius and Remus spent the day playing Quidditch, or watching in Hermione's case, and soon it was another late evening of sitting around the fire telling stories.

"What time do you need the potion by tomorrow?" Harry asked Remus.

"Eight a.m., twelve hours before a moon rise is best," Remus answered.

"Why don't you just stay here then, and not have to apparate to Hogsmeade and then Floo here so early," Harry said.

"Yes, we can easily get another couple of rooms for you to use," Hermione said.

"If you insist. Hey, why don't you three go get the animagus potion and we can see what you'll be. If you can control the transformation by tomorrow night you can come with us, or we can stay right here so you can watch what happens with Remus," Sirius said, still worried about Remus being used as a test subject.

"I was thinking the same thing so I brought three vials out earlier when I checked on the wolfsbane. Is it supposed to smell like rotten eggs at this point?" Harry asked.

"Yes, very much so. How does the hybrid potion smell?" Remus answered.

"Like rotten eggs mixed with something fruity," Harry answered, pulling out the vials of animagus potion. "Here we go," he said, uncorking his vial. "On the count of three?" Harry asked.

* * *

"One, Two, Three," Hermione said. On her three they all drank the potion. 

Almost instantly Harry felt himself shrink and start to grow fur. He felt his backbone bend and twist but it didn't hurt. Then he suddenly saw everything in black and white or shades of grey. 'I bet I'm a wolf, it feels like how Remus describes Moony, only I have my mind' Harry thought.

Remus and Sirius watched as a large black shaggy wolf formed where Harry had just stood. "He looks like a cross between Padfoot and Moony," Remus said.

Sirius looked over to see what Hermione and Ron had turned into and saw a tawny brown lioness and a bright red fox looking at him. "Well, what do we have here? How about Midnight for our wolf, Paws for the fox, and we need an M name for our lioness. All I can think of is Majesty," Sirius said.

"She looks like a Majesty," Remus said. "Okay you three, just think about your human shape and you'll change back," Remus added.

Harry managed the change first and smiled. "That was awesome. Am I right? I felt like a wolf," Harry said.

"Yes, you were a large black wolf, Hermione as you can see is a lioness, and Ron is a fox," Sirius said.

"I heard your nicknames for us. I like it. The new generation of marauders are Midnight, Paws, and Majesty," Harry said.

"I agree," Ron said, popping back to human form.

"Me too," Hermione agreed a moment later.

"All right new marauders time for sleep," Remus said.

* * *

"First, we need some blood to test our hybrid potion, just to be sure it won't hurt you Remus," Hermione said apologetically. 

"No problem," Remus said, conjuring a knife and a vial. Cutting his palm he let the blood run into the vial until it was about half full.

"Let's see what happens," Hermione said, going to the potion room and coming back with a vial of the mixed potion which they had made extra of during the afternoon just to be sure, and to have some on hand for testing later. Hermione added a drop of potion to the blood and watched the steam billow as before. This time though only one silver streak had vanished. "I guess it takes a lot more. Maybe you get new silver streaks in your blood for every year you carry the infection. We'll see after tomorrow if there's any difference in your blood," Hermione said.

Harry asked for two more rooms to be added and everyone went to sleep quickly to get to the next day and the transformation. The trio were eager to see what result, if any, their potion had on Remus' condition.

The next morning they ate quickly and watched Remus drink a large goblet of the combined potion which had cooled an odd silver colour with only a hint of green remaining. Hermione was impatient knowing she'd have to wait until after the full moon to test what effect the potion had on Remus. Instead they spent the rest of the day practising their animagus transformation which they mastered by lunch, and then Harry went to his Occlumency lesson for three hours with Dumbledore.

* * *

The moon rose at eight p.m. and Sirius was ready as Padfoot in case the wolfsbane hadn't worked properly. He trapped Remus in the bedroom that Remus had used last night and waited for the usual howls and horrible sounds of bones breaking that usually accompanied the transformation. Instead there was one painful sounding crack and then Moony was standing there wagging his tail ready to play with Padfoot and the new friends that he could smell on the other side of the door. "Come on in, you three did something, he didn't even howl when he transformed," Sirius said, having transformed back to open the door, earning himself a sloppy kiss from Moony. 

"He's tame," Harry said, also transforming back to pet Moony.

"Yeah, the wolfsbane really helps. He's not usually this tame though. I really think you three are on to something, the transformation was much more like an animagus rather than a werewolf," Sirius said.

The marauders, old and new, spent the night running about an imitated forest that the room had conjured after Sirius had wanted to go outside if it only wasn't so dangerous for Harry to accidentally roam past the apparation barrier. When morning came, Remus transformed back with barely any pain and only one loud pop, which served to wake the others from their slumber.

"How do you feel?" Harry asked, giving Remus a hug.

"Much better. I only felt the change for the first few minutes and then it was like I stopped fighting it even more than usual and my mind stayed in the front instead of Moony coming to try to take over," Remus said, hugging Harry back. "Thank you, Harry," Remus whispered in Harry's ear.

"Would you mind giving another blood sample?" Hermione asked.

"Not at all, I'm anxious to see what you've managed to erase. I feel at least five years younger," Remus said.

"You look it too. Some of your grey hair is gone this morning," Harry said.

Remus cut his hand again and then healed the gash while he waited for Hermione to test the blood sample. "You started with 30 silver streaks yesterday and now after the full moon and the potion you have 20 left," Hermione said.

"We took ten years of damage away in one full moon, and made the pain more bearable. It wasn't an outright cure but maybe over the next two full moons as the damage repairs more it will reverse completely," Harry said, writing the findings in the notebook.

* * *

"We should tell Dumbledore," Remus said, thinking that the cure could be what they needed to get the werewolves on their side instead of going to Voldemort. 

"Are you thinking the cure could be a way to entice the werewolves?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly. I'll let you three tell Dumbledore. It is your discovery," Remus said.

"Tell me what?" Dumbledore asked from the doorway.

"We think we may have found a possible cure for lycanthropy," Hermione answered.

"Remus tried it last night. It took ten years of damage away from him and caused the transformation to be nearly as painless as an animagus transformation," Harry added.

"You three never cease to amaze me, unfortunately I need to borrow Sirius and Remus today. There's been an attack on Diagon Alley late last night and we're needed to sort the survivors and those less fortunate. I believe there may be several Hogwarts students who will not be returning for the new term on September 1," Dumbledore said gravely.


End file.
